Misfortunate Happenstance
by AsuraChaos
Summary: Following the death of her father, Lucy is forced home to oversee her family's business, much to Natsu's displeasure. However, not all is as it seems, and an evil plot soon threatens Lucy and the other members of Fairy Tail. Slightly Lucy/Natsu
1. The Letter

_Lucy's heart beat painfully within her chest, as she ran faster than she'd ever thought possible. She didn't know what was behind her, and she didn't want to know; whatever the thing was, it happened to be both terrifying and gaining on her. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ground before her, and Lucy fell into it. She clawed desperately at the dirt walls that encaged her, attempting to climb out, but it was useless; she was trapped. The air around her grew cold as the thing that had been chasing her peered down on its prey, preparing to pounce._

Lucy Heartphilia woke to the sound of her own screams. ' Just another nightmare,' she thought to herself as she turned on her bedside lamp. 'Simply another horrible, repetitive nightmare.' The stellar mage sighed, glancing at her alarm clock. It was only 3 a.m, meaning she didn't really need to be out of bed for at least four more hours. However, as she'd learned in the past few weeks, once she was awake, it would be difficult to get back to sleep. Giving in to this reality, Lucy pulled out a novel, and began reading it to calm her nerves.

The nightmares had begun without warning two weeks ago, while Lucy had been returning from a mission with Natsu, Erza, and Grey. After falling asleep on the train, Lucy dreamt that she was being chased by a creature made of shadows. Fortunately, the dream didn't last long, as the train ride itself was rather short. Once Lucy was 'safe' at home and comfortable in her own bed, though, there was little to wake her from her nightly terrors except fear itself.

The basic idea of the nightmare was always the same, although the details often varied. Sometimes Lucy found herself running through unending hallways with many locked doors, other times she found herself lost deep within a dark forest. The shadowy figure that chased her ,however, was always present., and always only a few meters behind her.

No one in Fairy Tail had said anything to her yet, but she was beginning to suspect that people were noticing that something was wrong with her. At first she had been able to deal with her lack of sleep by simply increasing the amount of caffeine that she drank on a daily basis; after a few days, though, this strategy began to fail; the circles under her eyes became too dark to hide completely, and her appearance steadily became more and more worn down.

Sighing, Lucy set aside her book. No matter how hard she tried, her exhausted mind refused to allow her to become engrossed in the plot of the story. Her only option was to close her eyes, and pray that the next few hours would be peaceful enough to provide her with the energy she needed to complete the next mission with her friends. 'I'll talk to Mirajane tomorrow, and see what solutions she can come up with for my sleepless nights ', she promised herself as she buried her face into her pillow.

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The next time that the alarm clock went off, morning light was pouring in through the window, causing Lucy's bedroom to glow as it reflected off of her lightly painted walls. The girl stifled a groan with a pillow, wishing she could go back to sleep. She'd managed to doze soundly for at least the last two hours, and wanted nothing more than to continue doing so. Unfortunately for her, fate had other plans, and a light knocking at the door finally roused Lucy from the comfort of her bed a few minutes later.

Glancing out the window as she slipped a robe on over her pajamas, Lucy saw what appeared to be a mail delivery man holding a large red envelope . 'Why's he bringing the mail to my door today?', Lucy wondered to herself. 'Doesn't he normally just drop it off in my mail box?'.

After signing for the envelope, Lucy set it down on what doubled for her as both a living room/kitchen table, and began to exam it. On one side was written her address, and the words 'priority shipping' were stamped across the middle. The other side was blank, except for the design of her family seal pressed into the wax that held the envelope closed. With a groan , Lucy broke the seal, reached her hand into the envelope, and pulled out a stack of papers. The majority of them looked official, and were written in such technical, legal lingo that Lucy was unable to understand anything more than a few words. One piece of paper, however, appeared to be a letter written to her.

'Dear Miss Lucy Heartphilia', the letter began.

' It is my sad duty to inform you of the death of your father, the honorable Sir Reginald A. Heartphilia, who died peacefully in his sleep after many weeks of fighting against a vicious form of pneumonia. Unfortunately, there is little time for you to mourn him privately. Considering that you are his only surviving relative, and, according to the will, his sole heir, you are left with the difficult task of overseeing your father's funeral arrangements. Also, there are many details of his estate which we must discuss in person, as soon as possible. When you are ready, please visit my Magnolia office , which is located at number xxx Fairfield Lane.'

'My Deepest Sympathies'

'Willard J. Fritz'

'Estate Lawyer, Mediator, and Trust Fund Overseer'

Lucy held the letter in her hands, staring at it in disbelief. Her father had been sick for weeks, and now he was dead? Why hadn't anyone ever told her that he was sick? Her father was the traditional type who would have wanted everyone around him as he lay coughing on his deathbed, so why hadn't his only child been informed that he was sick until it was too late?

'Would I have gone even if I had known?' Lucy wondered. Sure, throughout her entire life, he'd ignored her, neglected her, even abused her, but still, children were supposed to love their parents unconditionally, weren't they? 'How would people react if they noticed that the death of my father caused barely any sorrow within my heart? Shouldn't I be crying right now?'. Lucy put her head down, confused by the overall neutrality of her feelings.

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Hours later, Lucy stepped out of the office on Fairfield Lane, her head spinning. The short balding man behind her, Mr. Fritz, pulled out a huge ring of keys to lock the door to his office, as a woman sweeping beneath the awning of the entrance to the store across the street glared at him.

"Closing at noon today, now are we, Mr. Fritz? "

To Lucy, this sounded more like an accusation than a question.

"I'm only closing this office for a few days, Agatha. I have some very important business that needs to be attended to immediately."

"What's so important that you'd voluntarily leave everyone who's ever entrusted you with a will down shit creek without a paddle, should anything happen to them?"

"You see this little lady right here? She's just inherited the entire Heartphilia railway business, as well as the family estate."

"Well, if that's so important, I'll make sure to tell your clients not to die until you get back."

Unlike earlier, Lucy's emotions were now clear. Her chest ached as her heart slowly ripped itself into two, if not more, pieces. How would she be able to tell her friends that she was leaving town, and didn't know when she'd be coming back?

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I've only recently become interested in Fairy Tail, but it's already up there with my favorites. When I'd finished reading all of the chapters currently out, I decided to feed my addiction with fanfics. Much to my disappointment, however, there aren't all that many. Oh well, at least I've been inspired to get back into writing.

I hope everyone liked this chapter, and the second one should be out soon since it's almost done. Maybe one of these days I'll finish my old work…too bad I lost my half-typed up chapters when my computer crashed. As a disclaimer, I'd just like to mention that I don't own Fairy Tail and never would want to, as owning it would take away the excitement and happiness I get from not knowing what to expect the characters to do next.

Misfortunate-Unlucky Happenstance-A Chance Event or Occurence


	2. Farewells

Chapter 2

Fairy Tail's bar was packed full with the usual rowdy crowd, although a fight had yet to break out. It was guaranteed to occur soon however, as Natsu and Grey were already challenging each other to different feats of 'strength'. The game today: janken fighting. If the winner won using rock, he got to punch the loser. Paper equaled a slap, and scissors led to a poke in the eyes. So far, both competitors had gotten as good as they gave, but something seemed a little off….

"I KNEW it, you're cheating! You stall on making your decision until after I've already began to call out mine!", Natsu exclaimed as he lunged at Grey.

"As if! You're only saying that because you suck at the game.", Grey replied, dodging. Natsu's lunge, missing the intended target of Grey, instead collided with a table. Instantly, the occupants of that table jumped into the brawl, and it wasn't long before the entire bar was in an uproar. Drinks and food flew as tables were turned over, and shouts of both anger and glee could be heard echoing throughout the cavernous room. At this moment, Lucy had the misfortune of walking in with Mr. Fritz in tow.

" Oh dear, oh dear", he muttered, wringing his hands. "This isn't good. This is the guild that you belong to?"

"Yup…this is Fairy Tail," Lucy replied as she led him to the counter, which Mirajane was standing behind.

"But I…oh my… I'll have to inform Luclin… maybe he'll be able to work his magic…"

Lucy's brow creased. "Who's Luclin, and what do you mean, 'work his magic'?' was what she wanted to ask Mr. Fritz, but Natsu chose that moment to be sent flying into her by a punch from Elfman. The two of them skidded over the counter, and crash landed on the floor. Without skipping a beat, Natsu bounced right back up, and lifted Lucy to her feet.

"Hey, what took you so long to get here, and what's with the old geezer?"

"This is Mr. Fritz, a lawy-" Lucy began, only to be interrupted before she could utter a fully intelligible sentence.

"I was watching the board all day today, and grabbed this awesome mission the second it was posted. You see, this town to the east is having a problem with some bandits going around terrorizing people. The thing is, though, these guys aren't just any bandits; supposedly, according to the request, they're all animals! We so have to go and check that out! How about we--"

"Sorry, Natsu, but I can't go. Something big has come up, and…I won't be doing any missions for awhile." Lucy sighed as she tried to find the right words to explain her predicament, words that that would make him understand what she had to do. She didn't want him, or any of her friends, arguing with her; she wasn't completely sure that she'd be able to take it without coming to tears.

"I don't get it… I mean, don't you need to pay your rent and stuff?"

"No… I'm not going to be living there anymore; well, at least not for a bit. I'll come back again someday, though, I promise."

Natsu simply gave her a strangle look, as if he understood what she was getting at but didn't want to believe it. "Seriously, you're making no sense. Anyway, I'm going to get back into the fight, I'll talk to you later." Before he could walk away however, Lucy grabbed his shoulder.

"My father died, he left everything to me, and now I have to go home to oversee that everything….the business, the household, the funeral….everything!! I have to…" Lucy voice, which had started out as a rushed shout, quickly faded to a whisper. "I have to leave Fairy Tail."

The look on Natsu's face as he turned around to stare at her bordered on cold, and his answer was simple. "Why?"

"Well, first of all, you can't have a funeral without all sorts of planning. You need to have a wake, pick a funeral house, find a hearse for the procession to the gravesite. Then there's the business; someone needs to take charge of it, or it could collapse. If that happened, thousands of people-"

"One hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred and forty nine (120,549) people," Mr. Fritz interjected.

"One hundred and twenty thousand people would be out of work if my family's railway business went under. I mean, think of all of the people that work towards getting you from one place to another. You've got the conductors, maintenance, the people selling you the tickets…"

"I hate trains."

"Then, back at my family's residence, there are all of the servants. Some of them have served my family for generations, and they had much more of a hand in raising me than my father did. I could never simply… Look, I have to go, and that's final. There's nothing else that I can do about this situation."

"Fine," Natsu replied, crossing his arms and refusing to look at her.

"Well, then I guess this is goodbye for now," Lucy said as she tried to force a smile to her face. Suddenly she reached into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. "Mr. Fritz here gave me this train ticket for the trip home, but I want you to have it. This way you can visit me whenever you feel like it. I can just buy another ticket at the station."

Lucy placed the ticket into Natsu's hand with a smile, one which his face didn't return. Without a word, he marched himself off to a table in the corner, sitting down with his arms crossed. Happy, who had previously been contently munching on a fish in the corner, skipped over to him, but Natsu took no heed.

"Honestly, Lucy," Mirajane started sadly, " I think you just really hurt his feelings."

Lucy shook her head. Why couldn't people simply understand and let her be? "I don't want to go, but I have no other choice. Could you do me a favor and give Makarov this letter explaining everything for me?"

"Sure, I can do that. But while you're gone, remember this: No matter where you are, you'll always be a member of Fairy Tail. And no matter what the situation is, there are always different options. The path of life is not straight and clear cut, but rather is like a map. The direction that you take is completely up to you."

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Over the next half hour, Natsu continued to sit by himself in the corner while Lucy said her goodbyes to everyone. Despite her promises of returning, the hollowness that Natsu saw in her eyes made those bids of farewell seem final. Things had seemed so much better the last time she left, when she hadn't said goodbye to anyone; At least then she'd been planning on coming back quickly.

'Maybe I'm just over-reacting,' the pink haired dragon slayer mage tried to reason with himself. 'After all, Igneel never said goodbye to me, and I still haven't seen him since the day that he left all those years ago.

The creak of the front door being opened jarred Natsu out of his thoughts. Lucy was waving to everyone in the room, with a big, fake looking smile on her face. A second later she was gone, Mr. Fritz closing the door behind them.

Clenching his fists, Natsu heard the sound of paper crinkling. He'd forgotten all about the train ticket. Holding it up close to his face, he stared at it, taking in all of the little details; the train number, departure and arrival times, even the stupid little small print at the bottom. A second later, his emotions got the better of him, and he clenched the paper tightly in his right hand as he willed it to burst into flame. Being that he was a mage, his will became reality, and his hand instantly erupted into a ball of flame. When he unclenched his fist, all that were left were ashes.

Reason, after all, was not one of his key attributes.

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The janken fight idea comes from the cover of chapter 32, 'Natsu vs. Yuuka the Surge'. I wonder if anyone tried it out in real life after reading the manga…

I'd originally planned on including this with the first chapter but I A)deviated a bit from my original idea in the outline I made of the story and B)really wanted to get the first chapter out quickly, since I was so anxious to have it read. Sadly, at this time I have no reviews, so I don't know what other people think yet. Meh, that won't stop me… I'm writing this just as much for myself as I am for anyone who wants to see more Fairy Tail fanfics out there.

Misfortunate

-Unlucky Happenstance-A Chance Occurrence or Event


	3. Unfamiliar Faces

Ch

Ch.3-

Lucy stared out the train window. As is always the case when you dread what the future holds, the hours had passed by quickly. Now, she was nearly home…

Getting on the train had been simple. Being that she'd given Natsu her original ticket, she'd gone and stopped at the ticket booth to buy another, much to Fritz's displeasure. She had then followed him as he led the way to a private compartment at the tail end of the train. With the exception that it was slightly larger than what she was used to riding in, and that the seats were made of what appeared to be leather rather than synthetic material, the compartment seemed to be exactly the same as the rest on the train. VIP treatment can be so over-rated.

It was when the train started to move out of the station, slowly but steadily gaining speed, that Lucy began to feel nervous. Her resolve to return to her family's mansion was dwindling in the tiniest of increments, as if each rotation of the train's wheels chipped away a piece of it. By the time the train was halfway to its destination, Lucy was biting at her nails and wishing that she had never opened that damned envelope.

In truth, she was really hoping for some kind of intervention. She didn't care whether it was a knight in shining armor galloping down the aisle of the train to rescue her from her future, or a train robber with an interest in kidnapping for ransom; hell, if a train robber popped his head into the compartment, she'd happily jump up and down with a big flashing sign reading 'Pick Me! I belong to a rich family! Pick me!'

Back when she'd been kidnapped by Phantom, she'd had complete faith in her friends rescuing her, and she'd been right to think so positively; Natsu had been there to catch her when she jumped from the tower. This time, however, things were different; her behavior earlier in the day guaranteed that no one would be coming after her to be the big hero and save the day. She'd ruined any chance of that for herself by acting so cheerful and fake as she said her goodbyes to everyone; surely, by now, they all thought that she was more than happy to be going back to being a princess.

'Maybe it's all for the best,' Lucy thought to herself, internally reciting the reasons that she needed to return home. 'I can't be selfish all of the time.'

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As Lucy had expected, her homecoming was being treated in a stiff and formal manner, nothing like the last time when she had shown up unexpectedly. Then, she had been able to greet the people who were like family to her as if they really were relatives, rather than servants whom she was supposed to look down on.

This time, stepping off of the train, she found that she could see little around her but black and white; it was only when her eyes finally adjusted to the glare of the now setting sun that she realized that this was because she was surrounded by a small crowd of people, all of whom were dressed in the matching outfits of the Heartphilia residence employees. Oddly, some of them began shuffling slowly away from her, as if she carried a highly contagious cold. After a moment, however, she realized that their movements must have been planned; an aisle had been formed for her, complete with a plush red carpet down the center, which led to an elegantly decorated black carriage at the end of the crowd.

Lucy couldn't even voice out how awkward this all felt to her. Even in front of her father, people had never treated her like this before! Why was it then, with him being gone, that they were now going to such formalities simply to greet her?!

With a light shove from Mr. Fritz, she marched her way down the aisle towards the awaiting carriage. The driver dropped off of his seat before she was even halfway there, and opened the door for her.

The inside of the carriage appeared to be spacious but was rather dim, thanks to the heavy curtains covering the windows. Glancing over the seats, Lucy saw that they were made of plush velvet, and, more importantly, that there was already someone inside of the carriage. Impeccable attired in a pinstriped business suit and seated ramrod straight, the man appeared to be in his mid to late forties, and sported a bushy but well groomed mustache.

"Good day, Miss Lucy. I don't believe that we've met before. My name is Alexander DeBondersmit," the man said, reaching out to lightly shake her hand, "and I'm the personal assistant of Mr. Luclin. He couldn't be here to meet with you right now because he has some personal business to attend to, but he said that he'd speak with you first thing in the morning, after you've settled into your family's residence once more."

"Who is this Luclin man?" Lucy inquired of DeBondersmit. "I heard his name dropped in a conversation earlier, but before today I had never heard of him."

"Your father never mentioned him to you? How odd… Mr. Luclin has been your father's right hand man for the past year. Over the past few days, since your father died, Mr. Luclin has been virtually running the business for your family all by himself."

Lucy felt a small bit of hope spurt up within her. If this man had been running the business all by his self for the past few days, then was it possible that he wouldn't mind continuing to do so, maybe forever? 'I could return to Fairy Tail!', she thought ecstatically to herself. 'And at the same time, all of my family's business would be taken care of. Hell, he'd probably do a much better job than me… he is a business man, after all. I'm simply the heir of one.'

A moment later, after having seen to it that all of Lucy's luggage was properly stored in a second carriage, Mr. Fritz joined Lucy and Mr.DeBondersmit, and the carriage took off for its destination: Hell (aka the Heartphilia Residence).

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It was already dark when the carriage began to drive up the main entrance to the Heartphilia estate a few minutes later. The mansion, glowing with light, seemed almost cozy when viewed in contrast to the dark fields that surrounded it. Even the fountain that stood in front of the main entrance glowed gently, as if possessed by magic.

"It's been a long time since I've seen this view of my family's estate," Lucy commented to the two men that sat with her inside of the carriage. " I'd forgotten how beautiful it could be."

"Yes, but it is quite an electric bill," DeBondersmit replied with a chuckle that seemed rather empty.

When the carriage finally stopped, Lucy jumped out before the driver could even remove himself from his seat. Pushing open the massive front door, she found the entire parlor room draped in black… chairs, mirrors, tables; everything was covered in a dark, velvety fabric. A large framed picture of her father stood in the place of where a vase of fresh flowers normally resided.

Supetto, an elderly maid who had worked for the Heartphilia's as long as Lucy could remember, appeared almost as if she had been hiding under a piece of the black fabric, and threw herself at Lucy, bawling her eyes out.

"Master Lucy, you've finally come home again!"

"What's with all of the dark décor?" Lucy asked, giving the elderly woman a hug.

"It's to show our mourning for your father's death," Supetto explained. "As the new master of the estate, it's entirely up to you how long it all remains."

"I'd like to see everything back to normal as soon as possible."

"It's settled then. By the time you wake up tomorrow, everything in the mansion will look exactly as it did the last time you were here." With that said, Supetto performed a small curtsy, obviously made difficult by arthritis, and hurried off to see that her job was done.

Fritz and DeBondersmit came in at the moment, carrying Lucy's luggage. The first seemed very annoyed at being put to work doing such a menial task, but DeBondersmit fulfilled his job with an air of dignity.

"It would appear that not all of your employees have returned from train station quite yet," DeBondersmit began, "so I decided that it would be best if Mr. Fritz and I carried your luggage in. Will you be staying in your old bedroom, or taking over the master suite?"

"I'd prefer to stay in my bedroom," Lucy said curtly. The thought of entering her father's old room made her shiver. As a child, it had been off limits to her, even when her mother was still alive. Once, when a nightmare had woken her up, she'd eluded her nannies and tried to run to her mother for comfort. Upon opening the door, her father's roar of fury sent her running back to her room crying. The punishment he placed on her the next day made the nightmare's horrors appear tame in comparison.

Lucy led the men up the staircase, stopping in front of the last door on the right side of the main hallway. Her old room looked the same as it had nearly a year and a half ago, on that last night that she slept in it. The walls were made of a light wood paneling, with many designs etched into them; little of it could be seen, however, as the walls had long been covered with pullouts from magazines, much to her fathers displeasure. A queen sized bed occupied the middle of the room, with its headrest attached to the northern wall. To the left of it were her closet, vanity, and a door leading to her private bathroom. On the other side, her writing desk stood next to a large bay window which overlooked the estate's gardens.

After the two men stashed her luggage in the closet, Lucy proclaimed that the trip had exhausted her, and that she was ready for bed. Bidding farewell to Mr. DeBondersmit for the night, she asked him if he could possibly show Mr. Fritz to one of the guest rooms, an offer which he accepted with an overly showy bow. Once both men had left her alone, she began to unpack. By the time she was done emptying her luggage of all of her articles of clothing, the closet looked as if it was shared by two completely different people; one side contained long and elegant dresses, the other sexy mini skirts and comfortable t-shirts.

'Which one will I be when I wake up in the morning?' Lucy wondered to herself as she lay down on her bed. "The elegant and proper heiress or the Fairy Tail mage?'

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_Lucy felt like she had just fallen asleep when a soft hissing noise woke her up. Turning on her bedside lamp, she saw shadows seeping into her room through the bottom of the door leading to the hallway. Pulling the blankets over her head, she whispered to herself "This is just my imagination, just my imagination. There's no such thing as monsters…" Repeating this mantra over and over, she worked up the courage to peek her head out from under the blanket. To her horror, the shadow creature of her nightmares was standing right in front of her bed, its dark claws reaching for her throat. Suddenly, it seemed to change its mind, and opted to shake her by the shoulders instead_

"_Lucy" it hissed, shaking her more and more violently._

"Lucy, wake up!"

When Lucy opened her eyes, the room was full of sunlight. To her relief, the shadow creature was gone, and Supetto stood in its place.

"Goodness, I thought you'd never wake," Supetto sighed with relief. "When even shaking you didn't get you up, I began to worry."

"I'm sorry, I guess yesterday really tired me out. What time is it?"

"Nearly ten in the morning; your breakfast has been ready for hours," the elderly woman clucked in a disapproving but motherly voice. "Will you need any help dressing after your bath?

"Can't I just eat in my pajamas?"

"In your pajamas?! What would your father sa-- I mean, erm-- well, if that's what you wish. But do be dressed by 11:30; Mr. Luclin has sent word that he'll be meeting you in your father's-- your study-- at that time."

Shocked by Lucy's unorthodox request, Supetto began to exit from the room. Lucy, however, looking out the window, had one last question for her.

"Supetto, where's everyone else? Belo, Libon, Eido… I would have expected them to be the first ones to greet me, but you're the only familiar face that I've seen so far."

"I'm afraid that they all chose to retire," Suppeto answered, closing the door behind her.

'Retire?!', Lucy whispered out loud to herself. 'That seems so unlike them…'

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Breakfast was served in the dining room, which was situated right below her bedroom, on the ground floor. This meant that it overlooked the gardens, normally a nice view when one was eating. However, it was late in the year, and the balmy fall weather had been replaced with a winter chill. The flowers were wilted, and although several gardeners were hard at work trying to temporarily replace them with more hardy plants that could withstand the cold, the atmosphere was still dreary.

Lucy sat alone at the long table, munching on toast as she ladled out bits of food from the many different tureens in front of her onto one plate. Once she had loaded her plate with everything that she thought looked palatable, she called over one of the new maids, Kammi, to clear off the trays.

"When did you start working here?" she asked the girl, figuring that she might as well get to know the new help.

Flipping her long red hair behind her shoulder, Kammi replied with a giggle and smile. "Mr. Luclin hired me just last month, to replace one of the old biddies that quit. He said that new blood's needed around here, so he didn't even care that I have no work experience. And he's such a cutie!"

Lucy feigned interest while the girl went on about whatever it was that she was going on about. Why was it that the majority of the workers whom she had been close to had retired? If one or two of them had, it would have been understandable, but all at once? Something was odd about that. 'Maybe I'll bring it up with Mr. Luclin when I meet him.'

As soon as she'd finished eating, she rushed to take a quick bath. She didn't have long until she met with this man that she had heard so much about, and she knew that Supetto would kill her if she shook hands with him while her hair was still wet. Locking the bathroom door behind her, she rinsed off as quickly as she could, refusing to let Supetto and the other maids in when they offered to help her wash. Did they not understand that she had managed well enough on her own for over a year, and was perfectly capable of shampooing her own hair? She did finally give in to letting them blow dry her hair for her, however, and let another one of the new maids, a quiet brunette named Gwendolyn, style it into a loose bun.

She dismissed the maids as she went to her closet to pull out some clothes, but Supetto chose to stay behind and glare at her.

"Do tell that you won't be wearing that," she said, pointing a gnarled finger at the black skirt and white tank top that Lucy held in her hands.

Sighing, Lucy put them back into the closet, and opted to compromise. She wouldn't wear any frilly dress, but she promised Supetto that she wouldn't wear anything too casual either. Instead, she chose a loose fitting, tiered, ankle length gypsy skirt, and a long sleeved white blouse. As she was shutting the closet door, she glanced over the elegant dresses on the right hand side. It was hard to believe that once upon a time, she had reveled in dressing up like that.

With a nod of approval from Supetto, she marched herself down the hall towards a large oak door. The new maids were staring at her, probably shocked that she wasn't wearing some gown that was worth more than her 70,000 jewel a month apartment; she chose to ignore them, reminding herself that they only liked the uncomfortable clothing because they had never been given the chance to wear it. Stopping in front of the huge door, she paused to take a deep breath. The study may have now belonged to her, but she half expected to find her father inside with some new suitor when she crossed over the threshold.

Turning the knob and gently pushing the door forward, Lucy entered the room. It was exactly as she last remembered it; the polished white tile floor, rows upon rows of books lining the walls, and at the end of the room, in front of a window that took up the entire end wall, was the large and still ever so intimidating desk.

Lucy walked over to the desk, noting that it was covered with many papers, all of which were labeled and filed in a meticulous order. Embedded into the top right hand corner was an ornate golden clock; the time on it read 11:29.

The clock made a ticking noise as the minute hand landed on the number 6, and almost as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Lucy looked up from her cursory observation of the desk to see a man that couldn't possibly be any older than 25, dressed in a dark business suit with long black hair pulled back into a low pony tail and a showy, expensive watch on his wrist.

"Miss Lucy," the man began with a flourish, "my name is Adal P. Luclin. Welcome home."

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Woot, I'm nearly done with the introductory chapters, which means that the action will be coming up soon… or at least eventually. Even though I have a general plan with millions of little notes on the sides of my outline, nothing is ever static.

In response to Afro592's review, I tried to make this chapter longer than the others. Hope everyone enjoyed it.


	4. The Future Unveiled

Ch 4-The Future Unveiled

Lucy's jaw pretty much dropped at the sight of the man that stood before her. To say the least, he wasn't what she had been expecting. Normally, her father's assistants were in their mid to late forties, just like he had been; not a single one of his close associates had even been under the age of thirty-five. Also, Luclin wasn't so bad looking, especially for a guy in a business suit.

'What could the P in his name stand for?' Lucy wondered to herself. 'Maybe proud, proper, or princely?'

With a smile, she waved her hand at a chair next to the desk, inviting Luclin to sit down. "I think that we have a lot to talk about," she said to him.

"Very true, Miss Lucy," he replied with a smile, as he accepted her offer and sat down in front of the desk. "What would you like to go over first? The details of the will, the running of the railway business, or the management of this here estate?"

Lucy pretty much beamed at his energetic grin, as she leaned against the edge of the desk.. "Actually, I was wondering about how you've been running the business lately. I heard that you've been doing my father's job since his death."

"Yes, I have; that was what he trained me to do, after all."

"So then, you'll continue to run the business….for me?"

"Of course I will; that was your father's plan from the very start."

'Plan?' That had Lucy startled. In the hour that she had spent in Mr. Fritz's office, she'd never heard word of any plan for the future in her father's will. Rather, he'd made it sound like the entire company rested on her shoulders, and that she would have to run it using what she'd learned from her tutors as a child. "What do you mean by 'plan'?" she enquired of Luclin. "Mr. Fritz never informed me of there being such a thing mentioned in the will."

"Oh, he didn't? He must have been so excited from the thought of handling such a large job that he forgot a few of the details. I'll call him in now, and we'll go over the fine points with you together."

By clapping his hands, Luclin ignited a flurry of activity; the doors flew open, and both Gwendolyn and Kammi rushed inside, curtsying. While Gwen was prim and professional in her actions, staring calmly at the floor, Kammi was unable to hide her excitement. Rising from her curtsy, she began to eye Luclin, giggling softly all the while.

"Bring Mr. Fritz here," he ordered them. "And tell him to bring his copy of the will." The command given, he turned his back to them.

As the two maids walked promptly back out the door, Lucy couldn't help wondering whether this show of the power that the man wielded over her employees was meant to impress or intimidate her. Either way, she knew that she would never act like that; she had no problem yelling out people's names when she needed them, and simply could not see herself clapping to call them over like animals. Maybe if she had a sore throat or something she'd try it, but even then it didn't sound all that appealing to her.

"I know that it is traditionally considered a woman's job, running the household," Luclin commented as he returned to his seat. "So I hope that you don't mind the work that I've done so far with managing the estate."

"What exactly was it that you did with the estate?" Lucy asked him, ignoring the first half of what he said. "And, if you don't mind explaining, how did it come to be that so many of my family's best employees retired all at once?"

Luclin's smile never left his face as he answered. "The wave of retirement was all my idea. You see, I believe that a good way to invigorate any business is to introduce new blood to it; and when you think of it, the running of this here estate is like a business. That said, I hired some young people, and convinced the majority of the older workers to retire by offering them special retirement benefits. It was all done with your father's approval, of course, just a few weeks before he became bedridden from his illness."

Before the heiress could ask anymore questions about the issue, the doors opened once more, and a huffing and puffing Mr. Fritz was pretty much dragged into the room. While Gwen held him tightly by the arm and straightened out his clothing, Kammi picked a wooden chair out from the room's closet, and placed it next to Luclin. Looking at her, Lucy could have sworn that the skirt the girl was wearing had shrunk a good deal… or more plausibly that it had just been rolled up a few inches at the waist.

Whether Kammi was revealing more leg than usual or not, Luclin seemed to take no notice; rather, he focused his attention on Mr. Fritz, who had sat down nervously as soon as Kammi had finished placing the chair perfectly in line with the other one in front of the desk.

"It seems that you forgot to tell the young lady here about her father's plans, Mr. Fritz."

"Oh my, I guess I did." Fritz stuttered out. "I'll clarify everything right away, of course." Turning to Lucy, he unraveled the parchment that he held in his hand, and presented it to her. "This is mostly technical legal lingo, but in the end, it spells out what your father has planned for the future of the company…and for you."

"What exactly is it that my father planned?" Lucy asked, as her nerves began to tie themselves into knots within her stomach.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, it's all very simple. You see, your father has left everything to you: business, estate, fortune, etc. However, rather than throwing you to the wolves and leaving you to run everything on your own, he added some clauses for your convenience and protection. You'll be the head of the railway conglomerate, but in name only; Mr. Luclin will do all of the work for you. In other words, you'll be a figure head. You'll have control over the estate, but once again, Mr. Luclin will be supervising all and any changes that you make, to ensure that nothing goes wrong. With the bank accounts, however, you'll have complete control, at least within a certain range."

"What's this 'range' that you're talking about?"

"Your father recommended that you be allowed to spend no more than 150,000 jewels a month unless you received permission from either Mr. Luclin or I."

"Essentially, in order to keep everything running smoothly, your father entrusted your welfare to Mr. Fritz and I. We'll allow you as much autonomy as you please of course, but within limits," Luclin said with a friendly smile that didn't quite match the look in his eyes. "Considering your past actions, leaving you to your own devices doesn't seem to be the best of ideas. Your reputation is tied in with the company's, now that you're the 'head' of it"

"My past actions?!" Lucy seethed at the two men, as Mr. Fritz shuddered. "What gives you the right to try to control me?!"

In response, Luclin's lopsided smile only grew larger. "We're not trying to control you at all; rather, we're trying to protect you. It's not safe for a young lady like you, being all alone in the world with no supervision. If something had happened to you while you were in that guild, who would've continued the Heartphilia legacy?"

"And if I refused to accept what was left to me? Then what?" Lucy asked of the men, glaring defiantly.

"I'm afraid, Miss Lucy," Luclin began, his smile finally fading, "that then Mr. Fritz and I would be forced to take drastic action. As the company figure head, we can't have you smearing the business's good name, now can we?"

"I want you two out of my office, now," Lucy raged, pointing at the door.

"Of course. We'll come back once you've regained your senses and remembered your place in society." As he exited towards the door, Mr. Fritz in tow like a lost dog that had finally found its master, he turned around for one last comment.

"And the next time I see you, I hope that you're wearing something a little more proper. That skirt doesn't suit you."

As the door slammed, Lucy finally made up her mind.

'Prick', she decided. 'The P in his name stands for prick bastard.'

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Two weeks later, the town of Magnolia was relatively quiet. Much of this was due to the weather; most people preferred sitting next to a blazing fire over wandering around outside in frigid conditions. Even the children were cooping themselves up inside, for although it was extremely cold out, it had yet to snow.

Another explanation for the lack of activity was that Fairy Tail, the usually boisterous guild, seemed to have calmed down lately. Not a single militia from another town had marched into Magnolia to demand compensation for damaged property, nor had a messenger from the magic council delivered a list of grievances to Master Makarov. The reason behind this change?

Fairy Tail's most prolifically destructive member, Natsu Dragonil, was depressed.

Lucy's departure had saddened many members of Fairy Tail, such as Levi, but without a doubt Natsu had been hardest hit. In the two weeks that Lucy had been gone, he'd failed to take on a single job. Rather, the pink haired mage sat around all day, moping over a bowl of fire pasta or staring at the wall for a few hours before going back to his apartment. Not once did he bat an eye at the comings and goings of other; not even when a sympathetic Erza challenged him to a fight, nor when Grey stole his food and attempted to eat it in front of him. He simply ignored everything and everyone. Those closest to him were at wit's end, and could think of nothing short of kidnapping Lucy that might cheer him up again.

Grey was in the process of trying to pick a fight with Natsu for the third time that day when an incredibly stupid idea hit him.

"Oi, Natsu, I heard that Lucy's back in town!"

With a glare that could've melted Ur's ice off of Deliora in seconds, Natsu responded "Moron… if that was true, I would have smelt her scent by now. Leave me alone." Having said what he wanted to, he laid his head back down on the table, and refused to look at Grey again.

"C'mon Natsu, I'm supposed to be the cold one, not you! Get it; I'm an ice mage, cold personality….never mind."

Having failed yet again at so much as receiving a single punch from Natsu, Grey retreated back to Erza and Mirajane to formulate another plan. Erza had been out of town working on a job when Lucy left, but upon finding Natsu in the state that he was in, she had thrown herself whole heartedly into the task of cheering him up. To her, that mainly meant forcing Grey to do stupid and degrading things that would've normally sent Natsu into fits of hysterical laughter.

"At first I'd thought that he'd just snap out of this depressed state after a few days, but that doesn't seem to be the case," Mirajane commented to the two as she set down a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream for Grey. "Even master is beginning to worry about him."

"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it looks like we'll have to implement my original plan," Erza said, a look of determination on her face.

Shivers ran down Grey's spine as he prayed to every deity that he could think of, begging them to save him. Whatever Erza had in store for him, he knew that it was likely something horrible and painful. She'd seen no problem in forcing him to humiliate himself for 'Natsu's sake', so what could she possibly be willing to do as a last ditch attempt?

"Grey," the powerful ex-quip mage began, much to the exhibitionist's horror. "I want you… to go and visit Lucy at her family's mansion."

"That's it?! Why couldn't we have just done that originally!?"

"I hadn't wanted to bother Lucy while she was getting used to her new arrangements, of course," Erza said with a smile. "Changes can be difficult, and I'm sure that she needed time to get herself situated."

"So then I simply have to go visit her and tell her about how much Natsu and everyone miss her, convince her to stop down here for a visit, etc?"

"Basically. I'd go with you, but I'm quite busy working on a dozen or so different missions, so it looks like you're on your own."

Although Erza was smiling at him, Grey got the impression that she was telepathically trying to convey the message 'mess this up and you'll have to do _**that**_'. Grey, of course, couldn't possibly imagine how he could botch such a simple task, but didn't want to even think of the consequences should he somehow fail. The last time that he'd been punished like _**that**_, he'd been unable to sleep for weeks out of sheer terror.

"I guess I'll leave now so that I can get packing, and I'll take the first train heading north tomorrow." Jumping off the bar stool, Grey was surprised to bump into someone. Before he could say anything, a blur of pink brushed past him.

"Looks like he's headed home for the night," Mirajane assumed out loud, as she cleared Grey's bowl off of the counter.

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Natsu had walked most of the way home before changing his mind. He didn't really feel like sleeping, but he didn't feel like just sitting around in his empty apartment either. When he felt like this in the past, he'd always simply gone to Lucy's place. Whether she knew it or not, she was always the person whom he went to whenever he felt even the slightest bit lonely. Being that it was no long possible to visit her sporadically, he instead decided that it was a nice night for a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the route that he took to get there led him past Lucy's old apartment, a fact that he'd known but ignored when formulating the idea. 'I guess my unconscious self is a sadistic jerk', he thought with a sad, twisted smile.

The furniture that she'd worked so hard to save up for was heaped in a pile at the corner, as if someone had waited awhile before going and deciding to throw it out. He didn't really blame them; after all, it was in such good shape that it didn't look like garbage, even if she had bought most of it used. 'Everything had a place in her apartment, and she always kept it so neat. Then she'd scream at me and happy whenever we messed up anything,' Natsu reminisced sadly.

Looking at everything that had simply been thrown away, he decided that he wanted to bring some stuff back to his apartment. It was furnished well enough already with all of the random junk that he'd picked up over time, but he felt this burning desire to simply take something that had once been hers, as if her old furniture contained part of her essence.

Shifting through the mass, he picked up a small fuzzy blanket, the one that she had always kept on her couch. 'This and one of the chairs will do, I guess,' he thought to himself. Just as he was picking up the chair, however, a small object fell to the ground. Closer inspection revealed it to be a smooth, turquoise colored pen; Natsu recognized it as the one that she used when writing her stories. With a slight smile, he shoved it into his pocket, picked up her old wooden desk chair, and began to walk back to his apartment.

Before he was less than halfway there, he felt something cold and wet land on his shoulder: snow. Within seconds, the few little flakes had turned into a full fledged flurry. Shivering and hating the cold weather, Natsu unraveled the blanket, and wrapped it around his shoulders before lifting the chair back up.

"She may be far away, but at least now I can smell her beautiful scent," Natsu whispered to himself, somewhat less gloomy.

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I know that Happy's missing from this chapter, but I simply couldn't find a good spot to add my little idea of where he is and what had happened to him. I'll try to mention it in the next chapter, when Grey goes and visits Lucy.

Call me unromantic and cold, but I'm not good at cute fluffy stuff. I mean, I read plenty of it, but writing it just seems so difficult, especially when I'm trying to keep everyone as in character as possible. Anyone got any possible tips for me?


	5. Failure

Ch 5-

Ch 5- Failure

Lucy took a break from going through papers to lay her head down on the desk. 'This is all pointless, anyway,' she thought. 'Whether or not I approve these papers makes no difference. Luclin and Debondersmit are just going to go through them later and change anything that they don't like.'

For the past two weeks, Luclin had dumped piles of busy work on her- the pointless, meaningless work that teachers and bosses give you when there's really nothing for you to do but they want to keep you occupied. A stamp here, a stamp there, it never mattered what she did. She'd originally thought that her work had a purpose, and actually read through all of the papers before stamping them; now she didn't bother. Some days she just stamped everything with the 'ACCEPTED' stamp, other days everything with the 'VETOED' stamp.

It wasn't that she'd never tried to make a difference, or to assert her power. The day after she first met Luclin, she'd decided to raise the wages of all of the men and women working in the railroad construction sector of the company. It wasn't really fair, after all, that they made less money than the people selling the tickets, despite the fact that they did the more dangerous and difficult work. She spent all day going over paperwork, estimating how it would affect the company's profits, etc. In the end she was so proud of herself, and felt like she'd accomplished some great deed. The next day, however, she found a large stack of papers on her desk. At the top of the pile was the paper with her decision to raise wages; across the front of it, in bright red ink, was the word 'REVISED'. It might as well have read 'Luclin says NO', as the revisions chopped the increase in wages down to nothing more than a fraction of a penny.

Lucy had been so pissed that she'd taken the paper and burned it in the fireplace.

Even when she wasn't 'working', she still felt trapped. Kammi seemed to be watching her every move, as did some of the other new workers. Luclin almost never seemed to leave the estate, and Lucy learned from Supetto that he was living in one of the guess houses (mini-mansions) on the property. The only places where people left her alone were in the library and her room. She spent hours each day going through the library, searching for books that had been added to the collection after she left, or for the few ones that she'd never had the chance to read. 'That was at least one thing that my father and I shared,' she thought to herself. 'A love for books. He never really did care for writing, though.'

Tired of sitting at the desk, Lucy opted to take a break and read in her room for a bit. She would have loved to go on a nice, long walk, but the weather outside wasn't exactly exercise friendly. The snow was over a foot deep in most places, and the flurry showed no signs of abating any time soon. With the visibility being as bad as it was, one could easily become lost, especially in the several acres that made up the garden.

Her plans to dive into a book were put on hold, however, by a knock at the door.

"Miss Lucy?"

Looking up from straightening out the papers on her desk, Lucy saw Gwen poking her head through the door. If she could pick any person in this house that she'd trust, other than Supetto, it would probably be her. Maybe it was just how she appeared when contrasted to Kammi, but Gwen didn't seem to be a Luclin worshipper like everyone else. Rather, she quietly minded her own business, and would only occasionally speak to other people.

"You have a visitor. Would you like to meet him in here or someplace else?"

'If he's not being brought into the office automatically, then it's probably not someone that's connected to Luclin or the business. Could it be…. Is Natsu here?!'

"I'll meet the visitor in the parlor room." Lucy told the maid. "Do you think that you could do me a favor and not tell Luclin about this?"

"I'm afraid that he already knows, Miss. He's downstairs with your visitor at this moment."

As she shoved all of her papers into one corner of the desk, Lucy found herself secretly hoping that it was Natsu who had come all this way to see her….and that he'd found a way to 'accidently' BBQ the asshole who controlled almost every aspect of her life.

Rushing downstairs, Lucy was slightly disappointed to see an un-scorched Luclin, and an ice mage rather than a flame one. Still, it was nice to see an old friend, and she greeted Grey warmly. She wanted to give him a friendly hug, but the look on Luclin's face the second that she was within two feet of Grey told her to back off; she opted for a smile and simple hello instead.

"I was wondering when someone would finally make the trip up here to visit me," she said to him.

"Well, I know that Levi's been talking about it, but she's been really busy with jobs lately. Mirajane would love to see you again, but if she ever left Fairy Tail's bar for more than a few minutes, everyone inside would probably find a way to starve to death. As for me, it's not that I didn't want to visit you, I just wasn't planning on it any time soon, but Erza forced me to," Grey admitted.

"You probably should have cut yourself off while you were still in my good graces," Lucy commented dryly. "So where are Natsu and Happy? And what do you mean Erza forced you to visit me?"

"Basically, Natsu hasn't been himself since you left town. He's just been moping around, not taking any jobs or anything. Worst of all, he asked Luxus to cat-sit Happy for him, and Luxus agreed to it.

Lucy imagined that somewhere in the world right then, a talking cat was crying in pain.

"How could he do something like that?! He knows how much of an asshole Luxus is!!

"Like I said," Grey began, now conspicuously shirtless. "He's really depressed. That's why Erza sent me here; she wants you to go back to Magnolia, at least for a short visit. I've already got two return tickets, so all you would need to do is pack your stuff."

Lucy saw her chance to escape from Luclin and the boredom that had become her life in that instant, and she decided to take it. "I'd love to see everyone again! It'll only take me a few minutes to pack, so I'll--"

"No," Luclin interrupted, "I'm afraid that Miss Lucy here will be unable to accompany you back to whatever town it is that you hail from."

"Yes, I will be able to," Lucy reiterated, not backing down this time.

"No, you can't. If you were to leave, who would run this estate?" Luclin asked, making a sweeping motion. "I would be so swamped with work regarding the business that I'd be unable to takeover your tasks in regard to the mansion, and do you know what would happen then? The workers, unguided, would become less productive, and thus more costly. Then I'm afraid that I'd be forced to fire a few of them, starting with perhaps the oldest, least productive ones." Sighing dramatically, he continued "That is why I'm afraid that you can't leave. Your employees need you."

Lucy was speechless. 'Is he serious,' she wondered. 'Forcing me into compliance by threatening to hurt the lives of others? He's despicable.'

Turning once more to Grey, she said apologetically "I'm afraid that I won't be able to return to Magnolia with you, but you're welcome to spend the night here. If I didn't at least offer you a room and some food, I wouldn't be a very good host. I'll have Gwendolyn show you to the guest--"

"I'm afraid that for the sake of the company's reputation, I cannot allow a man who is only wearing boxers to spend any longer in this mansion.

"Oh, shit! Not again!!"

Lucy slapped a hand to her forehead as the exhibitionist attempted to re-dress himself.

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In the end, Grey was allowed to stay ("Only for tonight," Luclin had told them). Unfortunately, their every movement was watched. When she gave him a tour around the estate, Kammi followed, claiming to be ready to meet her 'every need'. When Lucy told her that what she needed was privacy, the red haired pain in the ass only backed off a little, walking a few feet behind her rather than breathing down her neck. Later, when she ate dinner with Grey in the dining room, Luclin and DeBondersmit ate with them, attempting to entertain them with boring stories about running a railroad company. The two of them even stayed after dinner, sitting with her and Grey in the parlor room while they talked about everything that Lucy had missed in Fairy Tail while she was gone.

"Levi's been talking about writing her own novel a lot lately, but so far she hasn't produced anything," Grey said, sitting in the chair farthest away from the fireplace. Lucy had forgotten that he didn't really care for anything that was hot, so she was sitting by herself next to the fireplace, roasting marshmallows, which she then threw across the room to Grey. The two business men sat in chairs against the wall, pretty much right next to her, and cringed every time that Grey missed a marshmallow, causing it to hit the floor.

Lucy was feeling extremely frustrated. She'd been trying so hard to drop hints for Grey that would help him realize what was really going on here, but so far he seemed to have not picked up on them; rather, he just seemed a little bit confused. Clearly, he knew that something was up, just not what. Luclin and his cohort, on the other hand, seemed to know perfectly well what was going on, and didn't seem very pleased.

Grey shared Lucy's sentiments in feeling frustrated, just for different reasons. Erza was going to kill him, plain and simple, but not before forcing him to do **that**, which was worse than death. At the same time, Lucy's behavior struck him as odd. 'I don't remember her acting all cryptic like this before…and what's with these two guys following her around?'

After about an hour of listening to the two of them jabber on about members of Fairy Tail, Luclin stood up suddenly. "I know that it hasn't even been dark all that long," he announced to the group, "but Mr. Fullbuster's train will be leaving very early tomorrow morning and Miss Lucy has an important meeting at around the same time."

"You never mentioned anything about a meeting!" Lucy pretty much freaked, jumping up from where she had been sitting. Was Luclin planning on restricting her life further in retaliation for today, or could he possible be planning something even worse? 'He's been eyeing the marking on my hand a lot lately… he couldn't possible force me to remove it, could he?'

"I'm sorry, Miss Lucy," Luclin replied calmly. "I thought I'd mentioned it during dinner, but I might have forgotten. Anyway, it's extremely important in that it concerns your future in the running of the company."

Clapping his hands, he summoned Kammi and Gwen, and ordered them to show Grey to one of the guest rooms. Lucy knew that she likely wouldn't be able to see him again before he left, so she had to think quickly. 'I need to find some way to get him back here,' she thought to herself. 'Next time I'll be more prepared, and somehow… I'll…do something."

"Grey, wait a second!" Lucy shouted as the two maids began to drag him and his small bit of luggage up the stairs. Speed walking over to the three of them before they could take him further away, she stated "I'm throwing a Holiday Party next week, and I wanted to know if you could do me a small favor. You see, I really want to go overboard with the decorations, and that got me thinking of how awesome it would be to have ice sculptures. You're amazing at shaping ice into different things, so would you possibly be able to come back and put up a few sculptures for me?"

"Sure, no problem," was all that Grey was able to get out of his mouth before he was pulled around a corner in the hallway.

"What are you planning, Lucy?" Luclin asked in a slightly threatening voice. "I won't allow you to invite any more members of that destructive gang into this house. Do you know how much damage it could cause if it leaked into the press that you threw a party for them?!"

"I wasn't planning on inviting any more members of Fairy Tail," Lucy exclaimed defensively. "Rather, I was going to invite all of the company's higher ups and a few others. None of the people on the list are what you would deem 'rabble' or anything like that."

"Good. Then I look forward to going over your list soon. Good night, Miss Lucy." With a small wave, the long haired jerk took his leave.

Fuming but now just the tiniest bit hopeful, Lucy walked up the stairs. She had absolutely no intention of going to sleep; now she actually needed to plan a party, and the first things to do were to pick an exact date and draw up the list of guests so that invitations could be sent. 'It'll be a lot of work, but the idea's not too bad for something I came up with in only a few seconds. Really, I've just got to figure out exactly what I'm going to do now that I've invited Grey. I mean, I want to go back to Fairy Tail so badly, but can I just leave this place and everyone here to suffer under Luclin?'

Sitting down at the old writing desk in her bedroom, she began to make her plans.

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The next morning, Lucy woke to find Supetto glaring at her.

"Mr. Luclin's been telling me all morning that you absolutely need to be prepared for the meeting that he set up for today, and you're not even out of bed yet! Just what am I going to do with you?!"

"What time is it?" Lucy groaned sleepily. It had taken more time than she'd planned to come up with a list of guests that would be suitable to Luclin's tastes, and she hadn't gotten to sleep until it was pretty late.

"Well past nine! Your guests are meeting you in the office at ten, so you better run and take a quick shower. I'll pick out some clothes for you and then you can eat while Gwen does your hair."

Muttering under her breath that no one had given her reasonable warning about this meeting, Lucy took a quick shower. As soon as she'd dried herself off, Supetto helped her into the dress that she'd picked out for her, and handed her a bagel to munch on while Gwen hastily styled her hair. Lucy had barely finished shoving the last bit of the bagel into her mouth when Supetto pulled her up off the chair, brushed the crumbs off of her outfit, and sent her to the office.

'And now I'm early,' she thought to herself, disgruntled. 'Seems like I didn't really need to rush around this morning, now did I?' Still tired from staying up all night, she slumped down in the chair behind the large desk. It wasn't all that comfortable, and in her hurry she'd forgotten to grab a pillow, so that she could've made the chair more amicable to her rear end. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't until just as she was beginning to become comfortable in her drowsiness that the door opened, and Luclin entered with DeBondersmit as well as a few other men in fancy business uniforms.

"Good morning, Miss Lucy. How did you sleep last night?," Luclin asked her with a look that pretty much told her that he knew how late she'd been up. 'Is the light in my room noticeable from the guest house that he's staying in, or did he have Kammi spy on me again?,' Lucy began to wonder.

"Now everyone, this meeting has been called together in order to discuss the recent proposals regarding our company's public image," Luclin began in an authoritative voice, clearly showing that he was indeed in charge. "Mr. DeBondersmit, I believe that you've drawn up a few charts depicting the current state of affairs and the possible effects of the proposed changes."

Setting up an easel, DeBondersmit showcased to the small crowd a few pie chats and bar graphs. Lucy, not quite comprehending what was going on, quickly became bored. Half of her wanted to ask what exactly they were talking about, and what the statistics stood for, but she was afraid that she would look stupid. 'Maybe that's what Luclin's aiming for," she started to think. Suddenly, the other people in the room began murmuring, and Lucy looked up.

"So then we've all reached an agreement on the course of action?" Luclin was asking. A solid "Aye" echoed across the room.

"Well, then Miss Lucy, it's been decided. Your current status as a single, wealthy socialite is in no way beneficial to the company's public image. Therefore, we believe that you should marry as soon as possible."

"WHAT?!"

Happy, from where he was crying deep in Luxus's basement (which doubles as a torture chamber, by the way), swore that he heard the sound of a young girl's scream of utter horror.

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Right now, I'm kinda hoping that I can try to finish this before I move into college at the end of the month. It probably won't happen, but I'll continue to work on this story as well as a few one-shots I've been working on between chapters for this fic. I simply won't be able to write at the rate I'm currently writing at.

In other news, what happened to Happy has been revealed! Ta da! Don't worry; I'll have Natsu rescue him soon.


	6. An Old Friend

Ch 6

Ch 6: An Old Friend

"You can't force me to get married!" Lucy yelled. "I wouldn't let my father force me into it, so there's no way in hell that I'd let you!"

"Now, now, no one's forcing you…..we're simply saying that it would be in the company's best interests," Luclin replied. Despite the nods among the group of business men, and the placid tone of Luclin's voice, Lucy knew that he was giving her an order; the glint in his eyes gave him away. "Although I will admit," he continued, "I was hoping that the solid evidence presented in DeBondersmit's charts would sway your mind."

"Still, you can't just walk up to a girl and tell her that you want her to get married," Lucy said, berating Luclin and the others. "Marriage takes commitment, and that only comes from love, understanding, passion…."

Luclin simply laughed at her, as if she had just told him that she'd increase company profits by chasing every rainbow to the pot of leprechaun gold at the end. "We're not asking you to go out and find you soul mate," he rebutted. "We simply want to see a ring on your finger, and preferably some political or economical benefits along with the marriage license."

"Out," Lucy yelled, pointing at the door, completely fed up. "I want everyone out of my office, pronto. No buts, everyone out now!"

Confused, the business men shuffled slowly out the door; after a minute, only Luclin remained. Telling Kammi to move the men to the parlor room and find some way to keep them occupied for a few minutes, he shut the door softly.

"Are you confused by exactly who I was referring to when I said everyone, or do you simply find yourself too important to be clumped together with other people?" Lucy asked him sarcastically. This time, he had gone too far in trying to control her life. She could put up with his threats and deal with his spies watching her every movement, but being forced into a loveless marriage? That was way overstepping any boundaries that had been set against her in her father's will.

"Miss Lucy, the business needs you to marry, and I believe that I've found the perfect man," he cooed at her, ignoring the venom had dripped from her voice only seconds earlier. "If you were to marry Prince Sawalu Julenelle, your family's railroad—"

"Could expand south? Heard it before from my father, and refused it that time as well."

"But just consider the possibilities! Why is the south so under industrialized? Because its system of transportation is outdated! If we moved in there, we'd be bringing jobs and economic security to thousands! Imagine what good you could bring about for those people just by saying 'I do'!" On the inside, Luclin was laughing hysterically to himself. 'Just a little more to appeal to her soft, feminine, bleeding heart, and she'll be running down the aisle crying happily.'

"And what makes you think that I'd care," Lucy asked icily. "I'm not stupid. The south does have a modern railroad system, and you're just planning on using shoddy business practices to run it out of business. I know that all you're interested in is money and power, so stop feeding me your lies."

Luclin gritted his teeth, his brow furrowing in anger. He'd wanted to save this trick for when he really needed it, but she'd left him no choice, at least in his own opinion. Asking with pretty words like 'please' clearly were not working with this girl, so it looked like he would have to play dirty…something he was very, very good at.

"If you don't agree to this marriage, I'll see to it that Supetto's employment is terminated immediately. Don't think I'm bluffing," he growled as Lucy's eyes grew wide. "I drew up the necessary papers long ago, and all that's left for them to be complete it my signature."

Lucy's answered his threats with stony silence, but that was fine to him; from the resigned look in her eyes, he knew that the argument was over, with him as the winner. Fishing around in his pockets, he pulled out a small box.

"The prince and I suspected that you'd answer with a resounding yes, so he sent me this here engagement ring. You can put it on your finger now, and we'll announce your engagement in the papers tomorrow. That alone should bring us enough publicity to send profits soaring by perhaps 2 or 3 above average!"

Grabbing her left hand, he opened the box to reveal what could possibly have been the gaudiest ring known to man. The gold, where it could be seen, shone brighter than Lucy had ever seen gold shine before, as if someone had spent days polishing it. Large diamonds and rubies covered much of the ring's surface area, and inside of the band, written in what appeared to be platinum, was the inscription _SJ+LH 4Ever_. Sticking it on Lucy's finger as she watched on in horror, Luclin smirked, amused by the fact that the sheer size of the ring appeared to make it difficult for her to bend the finger that it was on.

"Your father would have been so proud."

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The next two days passed slowly and miserably, as Lucy prepared both for her holiday party and for her wedding. The planning for the first one, while lengthy and tiring had been almost fun. With Supetto's help, she'd ordered all of the necessities for the party: the decorations, the food for the feast that the cooks would be whipping up, favors for the guests, etc. Luclin had approved her initial guest list, with only a few slight revisions. And most importantly, Grey had officially received permission arrive early and create works of art from ice.

Planning for the latter event, the marriage, was more hassle than anything else, and the fact that Lucy felt miserable only compounded her hatred of the work that was required. Going through the books that the maids and other employees put down in front of her, she found herself cutting off the heads of the models in wedding dress albums, sketching over cake designs, and glaring daggers at china patterns. If her fiancé had been there at that moment, perhaps he would've called the wedding off, fearing for his life; unfortunately, his busy diplomatic schedule meant that they wouldn't even see each other until the wedding, when it was too late for either of them to back out.

That evening, after dinner, Lucy decided to retire to her room early, rather than look at monogrammed bath towels. She couldn't take anymore of the excited giggling, the whispers as her maids ogled at the dresses presented to her, and the general happiness of the people around her. After all, misery loves company; the flipside of this is that it can't stand to watch happiness float around it, gloating.

Lying on her bed, she felt lonelier than ever. Supetto was too giddy at the thought of seeing Lucy's wedding to notice how Lucy truly felt about the whole thing. She'd wanted to tell her elderly maid everything, take her into her confidence, but the look of Supetto's face at the sight of the ring had made her change her mind. "I never thought that I'd actually live to see you walk down the aisle," the old woman had cried.

Talking with the employees was out of the question. She didn't even know the names and stories behind so many of the new faces, so there was no way to know who was one of Luclin's cronies, and who wasn't. She had to hand it to the man, he knew his stuff: it now seemed like she was completely alone in the world, and completely in his hands.

Feeling a headache coming on, she reached out for the glass of water on her nightstand, but accidently knocked it over. Water spilled everywhere, but the cup somehow failed to break. Instead, it rolled under the bed, out of her site. Cursing and growling, Lucy hopped off her bed and looked underneath of it, searching for the cup. A glint caught her eye, and, thinking that she'd found the missing drinking vessel, she grabbed at it. Pulling it out from under the bed, however, she recognized it to be something else, something she had never even noticed that she'd lost: her keys.

'Aquarius is going to kill me,' she thought to herself. 'But how did these get under here? Did I drop them while I was unpacking all of my stuff?'

Suddenly, she realized that she wasn't as alone as she'd thought that she had been. The spirits contained in these keys were more than just magical weapons; they were her friends. And one of those spirits, in particular, was just the person that she needed to cheer her up.

After checking to make sure that there were no spies standing outside her door, she held up a golden key and exclaimed "Open, door to the lion- Leo!"

With a small 'pop', Loki appeared before her, looking happier than she ever could have imagined.

"Lucy, what took you so long to summon me? I was starting to get bored in the spirit plane," he complained, grinning at her with his trademark heartthrob smile.

"Well, I never got the chance to summon you in any of the missions that I went on, and now… everything's different." Sighing and slumping down into her writing chair, she explained everything that had happened since they'd last seen each other.

"So you're the virtual slave of some pinstriped asshole, and all that you want me to do about it is cheer you up with a simple pep talk?" Lucy nodded in response to his question. "Sorry, but no can do," he continued, the glint in his eyes visible even through his sunglasses.

"What do you mean--"Lucy began, shocked at his odd behavior.

"I refuse to help you go through with something you don't want to do," he replied with a grin. "You, get married? Hell no! You've got your whole life ahead of you, and there's no way that my conscious can let me stand by as you march off down the aisle!" Caught up in his impassioned speech, Loki's voice level had risen several decibels. "We'll fight our way out, past any one that tries to stop you! Combined, the two of us will make the perfect team, and no one, not even the jack ass Luclin, will be able to stop our escape! I'll distract everyone by--"

"Shut up, you moron," Lucy yelled as she covered his mouth. "Do you want someone to hear you?!"

But it was already too late; footsteps could be heard in the hallway, rushing towards her door. "Close, a door to the lion," Lucy whispered, panicking. Loki disappeared with a small 'poof', and Lucy just barely had time to jump back into her chair and hide her keys under a book before the door opened.

"I'm so sorry for intruding, Miss Lucy," Kammi simpered at her, barging into the room. "But I thought I heard a male voice, and I became worried. What if someone was sneaking in and trying to kidnap you?"

"Kammi, you are the craziest maid I've ever met. Now leave me alone; I'm going to bed as soon as I finish the chapter that I'm on," Lucy said with a small laugh, motioning at the book on her desk.

Looking annoyed and insulted, Kammi backed out of the room, glaring at her. "If I hear anymore voices, then I'll tell Mr. Luclin that you're up to something," the redhead warned. "Mr. Luclin hates sneaky people, and you wouldn't like Mr. Luclin when he's angry!'

'I don't like him in general, regardless of his mood,' Lucy thought to herself as the door slammed.

Picking up her keys, she twirled them around in her hand. Considering how her maids were, she didn't feel safe leaving them just lying around; it looked like her only option was to keep them on her person at all times. Since she couldn't hang them from a belt anymore, Lucy opted to attach the keys to one of her necklaces; that way, she could discreetly tuck it under the top portions of her dresses, and pull them out in an instant if needed.

Feeling better than she had felt in days, she cleaned up the spill on her floor while silently cursing Kammi's laziness, refilled the glass with water from her bathroom sink, and finally went to sleep. Tomorrow was bound to be another long, miserable day, but she now felt like she might just be able to get through this whole thing without losing her mind.

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_The shadow monster was after her, and she once more found herself running through the dark woods. Out of no where she pitched forward, falling; the grave sized pit had opened up in front of her again. Trapped inside of it, she could only watch in horror as the shadow creature slowly crawled closer, cackling wickedly. Suddenly, the sky began to turn light, and the shadows howled in anger as they disappeared. A soft voice was calling her name, but she couldn't pin point its exact location. "Lucy," it breathed, in the slightest of whispers. "Lucy…"_

"C'mon, wake up."

Glad that her nightmare had transformed into a peaceful dream, Lucy fought to stay asleep, as her internal clock sang lullabies reminding her that it was still late at night, not yet morning. Unfortunately for her, the voice persisted, even after she smothered her face into the pillows.

"Ok Happy, that's it, hand me that glass of water," the voice whispered loudly.

Lucy finally woke as she heard the sound of glass breaking, and felt droplets of water falling on her. Looking up, she saw an extremely annoyed, dripping wet pink haired mage. In the corner she noticed what appeared to be the outline of a sulking cat.

"Natsu! What are you doing here?! And how'd you get in without being noticed?!"

"Happy flew me in through the window," he replied, pointing to the small shadow in the corner, which let out a tiny 'aye'. "And as punishment for me leaving him with Luxus for a little while, he made sure that he bumped my head against the window sill a few times on the way in. And then there was the incident with the water…"

"But why are you here? I mean, it's not that you're unwelcome or anything, but after how you were acting the last time I saw you, I thought you wouldn't want to visit me."

"Grey told me that he'd come up here to try and get you to go back to Magnolia, but that you were acting really weird, and that the people around you were even weirder than you. That's why I didn't just barge in through the door, like I normally would."

"I know that simple social visits aren't your thing, so why are you here?"

"I want you to come back to Fairy Tail."

Lucy sighed, not knowing whether to be frustrated or relieved. Natsu appeared to be back to his usual self that she and everyone else loved so much, yet the tone of his voice betrayed the caution that he was exercising; for once, he seemed to be trying to keep his emotions hidden and in check.

"You really don't know how much I wish I could go back with you. I hate it here; everything in my life is controlled, I have so few friends nearby, and it seems like every time that I start to adjust to things, some new horror pops up! Just when I thought that maybe I could live with Luclin being a complete jerk, he goes and decides to outdo himself by forcing me into marriage with a perv that I can't even stomach!"

"You're getting married?!" Natsu yelled, his eyes bulging in shock. "Grey never mentioned anything like that to me!"

"Shhh," Lucy whispered angrily, covering his mouth with her hand. "Do you want someone to hear you and come running into my room? They'd kick you out, and then probably keep me locked up until the wedding!"

"Sorry," Natsu whispered to Lucy, removing her hand from his lips. "But if you're so unhappy here, then why don't you just leave?

"I can't; if I go, then Luclin will take his anger out on everyone else. He'll fire the few employees here that I actually care about, and then he'll still try to make my life a living hell no matter where I am in the world."

"How can you be worried about that kind of thing? I mean, he's not like the Duke of Evaroo, where he can keep people from getting new jobs, is he? And you should know by now that no matter who's after you, all the members of Fairy Tail have got your back."

"Yeah, I know you're right…," Lucy replied with a sad smile that she was sure Natsu couldn't see in the dark of her room. "But there is one more reason for my still being here…."

"And that is?" Natsu asked impatiently.

"Guilt. The last time I saw my father before he died was when I came here to convince him to leave Fairy Tail alone. I was pretty pissed, and we didn't exactly say our farewells on the best of terms. And then, in the time leading up to his death, I ignored every letter and package that he sent me; I never opened a single one of them, just threw them all away. When I heard that he'd died, I realized that if only I'd opened those letters, then I would've known that something was wrong with him, and maybe I would have been willing to see him again. But no, I was too stubborn, and now it's too late for me to apologize to him or take back anything that I did…"

"Lucy, it's not your fault, really," Natsu said, his voice softening. "There's no way that you could have known what news those letters contained, and after what he did with hiring Phantom and all that, you were right to be angry with him."

"I wasn't there for him when he needed me," Lucy continued, ignoring what Natsu had said. "So this is my atonement. I'm following the guidelines of his will to a tee, doing everything exactly as he wanted me to."

"And you being miserable for the rest your life was in the will, I suppose," Natsu snapped.

"No, the whole getting married thing was Luclin's idea; the will simply states that he's supposed to watch over me, and that I act as the company's figurehead. But if my becoming a bride is what Luclin wants, and it's all for the purpose of helping the business, then it's kind of an extension of the will's meaning…right?"

"Please Lucy, that is the weakest argument that I've ever heard from you, and I can't watch you go through with this. Seeing you walk down the aisle to some slimy pervert waiting for you at the altar…. I don't think that I'd be able to stop myself from interfering," Natsu whispered softly, sighing as he sat down on the edge of Lucy's bed. "You're my nakama, and when you're unhappy, I'm unhappy."

"Trust me, I've got the feeling that your invitation would wind up in Luclin or DeBondersmit's paper shredder, rather than in your mailbox," Lucy replied with a small and awkward laugh. Something about Natsu's presence in the room comforted her, and yet at the same time, she found her heart beating unusually fast. His soft tone of voice, the way in which he was gently trying to dissuade her from a decision that she knew was wrong: it all just seemed so sweet.

'I could almost hug him,' she thought to herself, blushing lightly.

"So, what are we going to do?" Natsu asked.

"Do about what?"

"You know, how are we going to stop your wedding, bust you out of here, etc," Natsu said energetically. "I was thinking that you could act as if you're going to get married, and go as far as walking to the altar, but then, just before you say 'I do', I'll jump in through a window, barbecue the ass of anyone who gets in my way, and whisk you off to safety, aka Fairy Tail's bar. Sound good?"

'Well, looks like that moment's over,' Lucy thought silently to herself, as the butterflies in her stomach began to calm themselves back down a little. 'Natsu is back to his good old self.'

"I know that you're right, and that I need to get out of this marriage, but your plan seems just the tiniest bit drastic," she commented. "How about you let me do all of the work for once, okay?"

"Really? You're calling off the wedding?!"

"Yeah," Lucy replied with a grin. "I'd willingly sacrifice my own happiness to protect others, but the happiness of a nakama? That's something that I'd never throw away."

The dragon slayer let out a small whoop of joy, and lunged at her, pulling her into a tight embrace. His head on her shoulder, he whispered into her ear "Thank you. Thank you so much." Lucy could feel her head spinning. This whole close contact thing was unusual; the only time that she'd been closer to Natsu was when he'd caught her after she'd jumped from Phantom's prison. A small bit of sweat began to break out on her forehead; her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she failed to see how Natsu could not notice it. The 'thump-thump-thump' was so loud, at least in her mind, that it nearly masked the sounds in the hallway.

'Wait a second,' she panicked. 'Sounds in the hallway?!'

"Natsu, you have to get out of here quick," Lucy yelled, pushing him away from her. "Someone's coming!!"

"But I don't get it," he whined as she dragged him towards the window. "You're still not willing to come back with me?"

"I will eventually. But right now I need to settle a few things here first," the blonde explained hurriedly. Happy was already flying around outside of her window, and she nearly had Natsu out, but he was gripping the edge of the window frame tightly, refusing to let go. Footsteps could be heard just outside of her door, and she knew that she only had seconds before the knob turned and someone barged into her room. "I don't know when it will be, but I promise that I'll return to Fairy Tail as soon as possible."

With one final shove, Natsu was gone, and Lucy was left standing alone in front of the window as the door swung open.

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Once again, I tried my hand at a little fluff, hope you enjoyed it! Now I think that I'm just a little over halfway through with this fic, but I've already got a few more ideas for when I've finished this.


	7. False Hopes

Ch. 7

"Kammi said that she heard voices in your room last night. Twice."

Lucy stood in front of the desk in what was supposed to be _her_ office, while Luclin sat in _her_ chair, with the desk acting as a buffer zone between the two of them. Kammi had indeed tattled on her, and this morning she was facing the consequences of that. Fortunately, when the two of them had barged into her room last night, they'd been too late to see anything more than her standing in front of an open window in her pajamas. Still, it was quite clear to them that something was up, and they'd taken no chances. Guards had been deployed around the estate, she'd been forced to sleep in a guest room, and DeBondersmit himself had been sent to follow any tracks that he could find in the snow beneath her bedroom window, but he had yet to return with any results.

"If you come clean now, I promise that the repercussions will be far less severe than what you'll get should you force me to find out on my own."

Lucy chose not to even dignify his threat with an answer, and instead continued to stare calmly ahead, looking past him and out the window. After nearly two hours of being browbeaten by Luclin in the office this morning, not to mention that time that he'd spent freaking out on her the night before, she'd had enough of it.

"Are you prepared for the party? Only four more days," Lucy commented, blatantly trying to change the subject. She smirked as he glared at her furiously; his knuckles turned white as he gripped the edges of the desk.

"If you don't answer me properly, I swear I'll…I'll," Luclin began to threaten her, but seemed to be at a loss for words. Instead of continuing his sentence with how he planned on making her life a living hell, he put his head down, and began to take deep breaths.

'Doesn't function well when angered to the point of stress,' Lucy noted gleefully to herself. 'That might be a good weakness to keep in mind.'

After a few minutes, Luclin looked up from the desk, a small smile on his face. His eyes, however, remained hard, and his nails still dug into the wood of the desk.

"Lucy, dear, I'm only angry at you because I'm worried," he cooed. "If something were to happen that could potentially endanger your relationship with Prince Sawalu, I don't know what I would do! We both know how important it is that this wedding goes off without a hitch."

"I'm not so sure about that," Lucy nearly giggled, her eyes lighting up in joy at the fact that their roles had been reversed; now she was the one doing the tormenting, rather than being the victim of it.

"What do you mean," her prey asked slowly, enunciating every syllable carefully.

"I mean that I'm canceling the wedding."

Venom seemed to drip from the business man's mouth as he breathed out the words "No, you aren't."

Lucy shrugged. "Too late for that. I've already contacted Sawalu via la'cryma crystal, and informed the chubby little pervert that I simply don't see him playing an important role in my future. By the way," she continued, removing the bulky ring from her finger, "would you mind mailing this back to him for me?"

Ignoring her outstretched hand, Luclin stormed past her, his long pony tail streaming out behind him as he marched out the door. A moment later, a servant shut the door, leaving her all alone in an empty room. Dropping the ring onto the desk, she collapsed into _her_ chair.

"That was unbelievable," she whispered to herself. Who could've ever known how exhilarating it felt to stand up to such an asshole, and to actually win in a battle of wills? She couldn't describe how it felt, at least not with any words short of 'pure satisfaction' or maybe 'heavenly bliss'.

And to think that if not for a little visit from Natsu (and maybe a little help from Loki, the back part of her brain added), she never would have been able to gather up the courage to do such a thing.

'Don't worry, Natsu,' Lucy thought to herself with a smile. 'I'll be back home before you even have the chance to miss me.'

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Luclin was seething, livid, infuriated; all of the words that could describe outrage and then some. Pacing angrily between a mirror and a wall in his own private residence, located conveniently close to the main mansion of the Heartphilia estate, he attempted to calm himself through working out his tension and rage. When this led to him planting his fist into a mirror, he found that his anger did dissipate somewhat, but that this happened mostly because it was replaced with pain.

"Master Luclin," Kammi cried out in horror, picking up his hand. "This needs to be bandaged, and quickly, but all of the glass needs to be taken out of your hand first!"

Luclin ignored the red head and the pain he felt as she plucked tiny slivers of glass out of his injured hand. "Has DeBondersmit returned yet," he asked another servant, who had been standing by the door.

"Not yet, sir. I do believe, though, that the reason his search is taking so long is because he found something."

"And what is it that you believe he found?"

"Footprints in the snow not too far off from the mansion," the servant replied. "He told one of the gardeners that he planned on following the footprints as far as he could, and that gardener passed the message on to me."

"I want the both of you to leave me," the young business man ordered. "No one else is to enter this room until DeBondersmit returns, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the servant answered affirmatively, exiting the room.

"When I said that I wanted the both of you to leave, I included you in that sentence, Kammi," Luclin growled at the maid who was now bandaging his injured hand. "Get out."

"Yes, Master" Kammi squeaked, curtsying furiously before rushing out the door.

Luclin sighed as he sat down at his desk, head in his hands. How dare that insolent little girl ruin his plans?! He'd put hours into their preparations, devoting so much time to negotiating out plans with the board of trustees and important shareholders, winning over Prince Sawalu with his promise of Lucy's heart, and now what had that all come to? 'Absolutely nothing! All my work wasted,' he thought as he slammed his good hand down on his desk's wooden frame.

'I need to work out some damage control,' he muttered to himself, placing his head on the desk. 'Maybe I can contact Sawalu and tell him that Lucy has just temporarily gotten cold feet? No, knowing her she told him off in some way that's completely irreversible.'

Luclin was still resting his head on the cold desk when DeBondersmit walked into the room, wearing a heavy winter coat and snow boots.

"I take it that you've found something," Luclin said to the older man, looking up at him but not lifting his head.

"Yes. As expected, I found some tracks in the snow, not far from the girl's window."

"Then Kammi wasn't over reacting; Lucy honestly did have some sort of illicit meeting in her room. How far were you able to follow the tracks?"

"It was for just a little under half a mile before I lost them. It was quite odd, though; the snow beneath the girl's room was undisturbed, and the tracks started nearly twenty feet away from the house. I was lucky that I even spotted them."

"Magic," Luclin muttered softly. In a louder voice he told his assistant "I bet that one of Lucy's old friends from Fairy Tail was visiting her; it might also explain how she suddenly found the courage…no, the gall to stand up to me, and to break off her engagement."

"Can the engagement be patched up," DeBondersmit asked, then looked downcast as Luclin shook his head in a negative answer. "Damn those indecorous ruffians!"

"We'll need to find another way to expand the railway into the south," Luclin commented without commitment, as if the issue no longer held his interest fully. "But what's more important is teaching Lucy her lesson, and using her in some way that's advantageous to us. I won't let her get away with what she's done."

"I think that I have come up with quite an interesting idea, Adal," DeBondersmit announced suddenly, his eyes glimmering with a barely contained excitement. "What if we could reign in Lucy and cement our control over the business, all in one shot?"

"It would be a plan to die for," Luclin answered, an evil light glowing in his eyes.

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Lucy felt as if she were in heaven that night. For the first time in over two weeks, she was wearing normal clothing, clothing that didn't restrict her movements or weigh several pounds on its own. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders, without any pins or heavy duty spray restraining it. And, best of all, she hadn't seen Luclin since he'd stormed out of her office that morning. Life was good.

Right then she was standing in the mansion's ballroom with Supetto, making all of the last minute preparations for the party that she would be throwing. Decorations were being strung up wherever they possibly could be, and certain areas had been designated for the ice sculptures that Grey would be creating. The gardeners had been conscripted into setting up tables in a circle around the dance floor, with the largest one being the buffet table on which all of the food would sit. All of the curtains had been removed from the multistory window at one end of the room, and the moonlight which filtered in created a spectacular display when it struck the crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Over all, the impression given off upon walking into the ballroom was one of gorgeous splendor.

"What do you think, stick with the small round tables, or switch to rectangular or square shaped ones," Lucy asked Supetto, eyeing the room.

"The round ones look lovely, especially with the way in which you've mixed up the tablecloth colors on every other table."

"Yeah…I know that the icy blue cloth looks great, but do you think that the white it too plain?"

"No, it's fine," Supetto answered, distractedly staring out the window.

Lucy gave the elderly woman a worried glance. That was the third time that she'd asked her that question, and only the second time that she'd answered it. Something seemed to be bugging her, and Lucy didn't really want to pry into it, but she couldn't help but think that she might be partially involved in the woman's suffering. When she'd told her of how she'd broken off her engagement with Prince Sawalu (and of the way in which she'd ever so tactfully explained how he had a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting his hands on her), she could've sworn that the old lady had almost fainted from shock, and, possibly, a slight bit of disappointment. 'Did she really want to see me get married that badly,' Lucy paused to wonder.

Feeling that she had no other choice, she gently asked the woman what was wrong.

"Why, nothing, of course," Supetto answered in a voice that Lucy assumed was meant to be soothing, but sounded more panicked than anything else. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

"You just seem so distracted…are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine, really," the maid replied with a gentle smile. "But it's getting late, so I believe that I'll be retiring for the night. Do you have any plans for tomorrow that I should know of?"

"Well, no, not for tomorrow," Lucy began. "But I was thinking that after the party maybe I'd take a trip to Magnolia, just for a day or two. I've spent so much time planning this bash, and just figure that a mini-vacation away from everything would be nice."

"That will not be happening," a dark voice drawled into her ear, making her jump in surprise. Turning around, she saw that Luclin was standing behind her, and that he was holding a large bag in his hands.

"Planning a little getaway, hmmm? Or maybe an escape from your duties as the sole heir of the Heartphilia conglomerate," the man asked in a sinister voice, dumping the bag on the floor. "That's an awfully large bag of clothing for a mere two day trip."

"A girl needs her accessories," Lucy countered defensively. "And what the hell do you think you're doing, going through my stuff?!"

"I'm making sure that you don't do anything foolish, my dear. After all, if any of your antics were to affect the company, I would be the one to suffer."

"Is that so," Lucy asked him haughtily. "Maybe I'll just do something stupid on purpose, then, and we'll see what happens."

The look on Luclin's face suddenly changed, from unparalleled anger to sadistic amusement; Lucy couldn't help taking a step back from him, as if repulsed by a powerful dark aura. She tried to muster up all of the courage that she could find, but with one glance into the steely eyes of the man before her she found herself robbed of all the confidence and hope she'd previously felt.

"I'm afraid that your little bit of fun time is over, Miss Lucy, and that I'll be taking back my control. My powers were, after all, set in the will, and you have no right to remove them," Luclin sneered, moving closer to Lucy as she attempted to edge away. "And now that you've gone and destroyed any chance that you had with Suwalu, who likely would have treated you at least somewhat decently, I'm going to have to resort to giving you away to someone less humane."

"And who would that be," Lucy asked, attempting to pull her shattered façade of courage back together.

"Me."

"You can't be serious," Lucy scoffed. "I'd never accept a proposal from you."

"This isn't a proposal," Luclin countered. "If it was, you'd have a choice.

With a clap of his hands, he signaled that the discussion was over. Almost instantly, two of the gardeners that had been arranging tables around the room rushed over to his side.

"Take the girl to her room," Luclin ordered imperiously. "She's to be kept there, no matter what, until the party. The two of you will guard her door in shifts, and should you become suspicious for any reason, you have my full permission to burst in and see what she's up to."

The two gardeners nodded, grabbing Lucy by her arms.

"You can't do this to me," she screamed desperately as they began to drag her away, while all of the other employees simply stared. No one made any move to help her.

"Supetto, please do something! Anything," she pleaded; the frail old woman simply sniffled and looked down at the ground, helpless. As she was pulled into the hallway and the doors began to shut behind her, the last sight she glimpsed of the room was of Luclin: cold, arrogant, and triumphant.

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The next morning, the sole daughter and heir of the Heartphilia family saw that the man who doubled as both her 'guardian' and tormentor hadn't been kidding in anything that he'd said the night before. Guards stood sentry outside her door, making her a prisoner in her own room. Her food was delivered to her via a silver tray, and when she complained about not being able to eat without a table, Kammi simply smirked and knocked everything off of her desk before setting the tray on it. By mid-afternoon, a small velvety box had been thrown at her by one of her guards; opening it, she found an ornately jeweled engagement ring. She'd thrown it out the window two or three times, only to find it thrown back at her a second later by the guards posted outside; apparently someone had taken into consideration the fact that her room was only on the second floor, and that an escape by jumping out the window wasn't all that implausible for her.

There was no one for her to talk to, at least not anyone who would really listen to her and converse back actively. Everyone seemed to have either been swayed or forced into the palm of Luclin's hand, and wouldn't even dignify her complaints or whines with an answer. The only thing that even came close to it was Kammi's jealousy; it was so obvious that Lucy almost considered trying the engagement ring on right in front of her, just for fun.

At least she could say that she wasn't completely and totally bored, since Gwen was supplying her with books from the library, and she'd been given several sheets of paper, of which she was currently using one sheet to list all of the possible insults she could throw at Luclin the next time she saw him. She'd just about finished filling out the backside of the first sheet of paper, and was about to move onto a second page, when Supetto stepped into her room.

"Lucy, I know that you have books and stuff in here, but do you need anything else right now?"

"Freedom. Fresh Air. Maybe a dull spoon to scoop out Luclin's intestines with," Lucy replied sarcastically, not bothering to look up from her writing.

"Is it really that bad in here," Supetto asked her quietly.

Finally feeling that she might have the chance to participate in an actual conversation, Lucy swiveled around in her chair, and looked Supetto in the eye. "It's not that it's so bad in here," she explained, gesturing around at her room. "It's the situation that I'm in. Doesn't it bother anyone, the fact that I'd rather die than marry my asshole 'fiancé'? And why isn't anyone willing to help me? The stuff he's pulling, like locking me up against my will, has to be illegal!"

"Everyone cares, dear," Supetto exclaimed, looking mortified. "It's just that there's nothing we can do." Turning her back to the girl, she asked "If none of this had ever happened, meaning this whole thing with Luclin, would you really have left and never come back?"

"Of course not," Lucy replied, trying to roll her chair over to a location from which she could see her favorite maid's face. "I definitely wouldn't be living here 24/7, like I'm stuck doing now, but I'd come back occasionally, even if it were just to visit everyone."

When Supetto finally turned around to look at her, she was shocked to see tears in the old woman's eyes. Not only that, she noted to herself, but her hands were shaking nonstop, and her face was pinched, as if she was holding back sobs.

"I'll be right back," Supetto cried as she ran out of the room, leaving Lucy confused.

'Now that I think of it, her behavior's been really odd lately,' Lucy thought to herself. 'Actually, she's been like this since I arrived; what is it that she's hiding from me?'

Just as the blonde mage was beginning to wonder if Supetto was really coming back, she heard arguing outside of her door, which finally opened after nearly a minute. A harassed looking Supetto entered, a large book clutched tightly within her fragile hands.

"Everything that you need to know is in this book," she whispered to Lucy. "I'm so sorry that I kept it from you… I just thought that if you knew the truth, you'd leave again, and I'd never see you." As tears began to roll down her cheeks, the old woman excused herself and ran out of the room once more, slamming the door behind her.

Lucy stared down at the book that now lay in her arms. 'Basic Stellar Summoning', the title read, it's gold lettering contrasting starkly with the deep navy blue that it was printed on. She'd spent so much time reading this as a child, all so that she could make her father happy. 'I poured years of effort into this and other books,' she thought to herself, 'but he was never satisfied with my progress, no matter how well I did.'

Opening the book, she was shocked to find that the middle pages had been hollowed out, and that a large envelope lay folded up inside of it. The envelope, she noted as she gave it a cursory glance, had her family seal on it, but the seal had been broken; clearly someone else had gone through the envelope before her. Pulling out several pieces of paper, she found herself stifling a small cry. Before her lay several illegible documents, chalk full of technical and legal terms. Within that confusing mass, though, two things stood out; a letter in her father's handwriting, and a piece of paper that was labeled as his final will and testament. This will, however, was completely different from the will that Mr. Fritz and Luclin had ever so gleefully shoved down her throat.

'Just what is going on in this place?!'

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This latest update took longer than usual to finish, but that's more because I've been lazy lately than for any other reason. My enthusiasm for this fic has been waning a bit, but that can be blamed on my becoming re-obsessed with the Legend of Zelda series, and on the fact that I have a million other fanfic ideas that I'm really itching to get started on. Then there's my mom; she won't stop bugging me to write something that gets published and actually makes me some money. I've actually had to sit down and start writing out ideas, just to make her stop complaining. She loves to read books, but doesn't care for fanfiction.

I'd never give up on this fanfic, though, especially not since I've come this far with it. I refuse to write a single full chapter for anything else (spontaneous one-shots not included) until I've finished this story. I do, however, have entire notebooks pages filled with new ideas, including one for my next Fairy Tail fic.


	8. The Truth

Ch

Ch. 8

Lucy skimmed through the will, attempting to comprehend the legal jargon that was masking the truth of her father's final wishes. Growling with frustration, she began to skip words, sentences, and then soon paragraphs, all until she was at the bottom of the final page. There, she finally found a few words that she recognized.

'This final will and testament of Reginald A. Heartphilia has been witnessed by and will be executed by those here undersigned: Supetto Mensini, Willard J. Fritz, and Adal P. Luclin.'

The stellar mage was even more baffled by this. Except for Supetto, those were the same names that had been on the last will! Lucy smelled a rat… and sensed that the said rat was very likely connected to the ring that now rested in its box on her writing desk.

Frustrated at her lack of any true headway with what she was now assuming to be her father's original will, she turned to the letter for answers. Unlike the will, it was not written on fancy, official looking paper. Rather, it was done in blue pen on a piece of simple stationary; Lucy was sure that she'd seen something just like it in her father's desk. Looking at her father's elegant handwriting, she couldn't help remembering the past: The time she had been all ready to perform a play that she had been practicing just for him, but he'd been too busy with work and had simply sent a letter to the her caretakers telling them to watch the play for him, but not bother him with the details of it later. Her 7th, 8th, and 9th birthdays, when he attached short and simple letters to gifts, but never showed his face. After that, he hadn't even gotten her gifts for her birthday, unless you included the debutante ball he'd thrown when she'd turned 16.

'My dear Lucy', the paper started, making the blonde almost want to put the letter down. THIS did not sound like her father, not one bit. Nevertheless, she continued to read.

'I've tried to reach you many times in an attempt to convey this message, but I've received no response from you, and don't know whether to blame the morons delivering the mail or perhaps your stubborn self '(Lucy felt a small twinge of guilt, and cringed). 'I can only hope that you'll sit down long enough to hear the executors of my will read this to you, or that perhaps you'll become curious enough to one day open this letter yourself, if you don't listen to them the first time they try to reach you. I know that this may seem unexpected, but I can feel my time in this world drawing to a close. My body feels weaker than it ever has before, and each day I wake with the growing suspicion that my last breath is not long off. Maybe it's because of this new sense of mortality that I've taken the time to look back on my life; however, that's not what matters right now. What does matter is that overwhelming sense of guilt that I feel for not acting like a real father towards you.

When you were born, I didn't know what to do. I'd wanted a son so badly, but there you were, my baby daughter. And then when your mother was unable to become pregnant again, I felt frustrated. Who'd take over the family business when I died?! Who'd pass on the Heartphilia family name?!

Over the years, I ignored you, focusing on the railway business instead. And because of that, I missed watching you bloom into a beautiful, self-sufficient, spirited young woman. In fact, it wasn't until you went and ran away from home that I realized how grown up you'd become. I will admit, however, that I took it the wrong way at that time, and simply began to consider you to be of a marriageable age, rather than viewing you as my independent adult daughter. For all of the grievances that were caused by the little circumstance with me hiring Phantom to retrieve you, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

It wasn't until I saw you in the garden with your friends from Fairy Tail that I realized why you loved that little guild so much; they loved you for who you were, something I had never done. Laughing and smiling, you looked so much like your mother; maybe if I hadn't treated you so horribly all your life, I would have noticed it sooner. I honestly can't even remember the last time that you smiled like that while I was in the room.

With my life drawing to a close, the time for me to decide what becomes of all of my assets has drawn near. Luclin, my new assistant, hired a lawyer to help me with the legal work involved in writing the will, but I have to admit that I rather distrust the man; he seems like a gold digger, and it wouldn't surprise me if I were to find that I'm being overcharged for his services. However, now is not the time to speak of such things; what needs to be addressed right now is what I've left for you.

After seeing you with your friends, it occurred to me that you were a grown woman capable of making her own decisions, and because of that I realize that you'd be best off making your own way through life. Due of this, I've decided not to encumber you with anything heavy, such as the business or the mansion. Rather, I'm going to have a special fund set up for you. Every month, 250,000 jewels will be deposited into your bank account, and whether you choose to use it or not will be completely up to you.

Control of the business and estate will fall to the Heartphilia Railroad Company's Board of Trustees. However, should you ever change your mind about being a mage, a special spot on the board will be reserved for you and any of your future progeny. I do have one favor to ask of you, however. Pass on the family name! Make your husband take your surname instead of vice-versa, and have as many children as possibly. I figure that the more you have, the better the chances are that at least a few of them will be interested in running the family business when they grow up.'

Sincerely,

Your Father

Reginald A. Heartphilia

Lucy brushed away the tears that ran down her cheeks, and tried to regain control of her emotions so that she could think clearly. It was so difficult though…. She'd been completely and utterly unprepared for anything like this from her father! Maybe that was why she'd fallen into Luclin's trap so easily…

'That's it, concentrate on the righteous anger,' she told herself in between deep breaths. 'Think of all that creep's done to you over the past few weeks, and focus on it.' Slowly, the intense mixture of emotions that she was feeling calmed down, and her breathing steadied.

Brushing away the last of her tears, Lucy picked up her keys and began to formulate a plan, once again ready to confront Luclin. This time though, she had no qualms against the use of violent force.

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Luclin was just settling down in his luxurious bedroom with a glass of brandy and a good movie crystal when he heard commotion coming from somewhere in his previously quiet and tranquil residence. He was in a good mood, so he tried to ignore it at first, hoping that it would simply go away; unfortunately for him, in the less than two minutes, the sound level had increased exponentially, as if it was moving closer to him. Muttering in frustration, he opened the door to the hallway in order to scream at his useless employers.

"JUST WHAT DO YOU FOOLS THINK YOU"RE DOING, MAKING ALL OF THIS NOISE?!"

The hallway was empty, and no one made any replies to his question/exclamation, so he tied a comfortable, red silk robe over his dark pajamas and stalked out of his room in a pseudo-calm fashion in order to get some answers. It was around nine o'clock at night, his quiet time, and his employees should have known better than to let anything disturb him. Walking down the corridor, he had yet to find anything odd or out of place, but the noise had definitely grown louder. It sounded like a mixture of furniture breaking, people screaming, and something else that Luclin couldn't quite place. His curiosity piqued, he followed the noise down the hallway, quickly reaching the door which led to a balcony overlooking his mansion's parlor room. Opening the door, he looked down upon his entrance hall in somewhat amused shock.

"Pure and righteous anger," Luclin muttered to himself. "That must have been the sound that I'd been unable to identify earlier."

The room below him was in the process of being completely destroyed. Tables had been splintered and over turned, paintings either lay on the ground or crooked upon the walls, and cracks ran through the beautiful marble floor. In the center of the chaotic mess, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of the men who had been tasked with guarding her, was Lucy Heartphilia. Taurus the bull stood by her side, daring anyone who thought that they could take him to just go and try it.

"Luclin!! Get your ass down here right now," the girl screamed up at him. "Don't make me work my way through this entire house just so that I can throttle you!"

"Now, now, my dear fiancée, what would the problem be?"

"You tricked me," she growled. "All this time, you had me believing that I was fulfilling my father's final wishes, when I was really just part of one of your sick and twisted schemes!"

"Oh? And what proof do you have to back that up? The last time I checked, your father's will gave me charge over you.

"This," Lucy replied triumphantly, pulling out her father's letter and holding it up for all to see, "is my proof."

"Then I better get rid of it," Luclin said calmly, jumping off of the balcony. Agile as a cat, he landed on the ground with barely a sound, much to Lucy's shock. Pointing at the paper, he began to mutter softly.

"Taurus, pin him to the--" Lucy began, but broke into a painful gasp as she felt her hand begin to burn. Looking down, she saw that the letter from her father was glowing a dull red, and a dark hole had appeared in the middle. Dropping it to the ground, she watched in horror as it burst into flame.

Taurus saw the look on his summoner's face, and raising his axe, he rushed to attack the man that was clearly causing her so much pain. However, before he could even get near Luclin, he was crippled by an unbearable pain in his legs; looking down, he saw orange flames snaking their way up his body.

"Close, a door to the bull," Lucy screamed, snatching another key from her pocket. "Open, door to the crab, Canc--," she began, but was stopped as Luclin grabbed her by the throat, lifting her clear off the broken marble floor.

"I'll be taking these from you," he said, pocketing the two ecliptic zodiac keys that she had just used. "Now, do you have any more of these powerful spirits that I should know about?

Lucy shook her head furiously, trying to hold back tears of frustration.

"Hmph. I don't believe you, but it doesn't matter either way. Your attacks on me are absolutely futile, as I'm sure I just clearly demonstrated. My magic is much more powerful than yours."

"Why did you do it? Why would you go through all of this effort," Lucy asked, giving in to the tears. "Why did you change his will?"

"That, my dear, is a simple matter," Luclin replied. "Your father was too blind to see the potential that I had, all of my genius. For what seemed like an eternity I slaved away as his assistant, trying to worm my way into his heart through hard work, but did he notice? No! Then, when he became sick, all that he was interested in was you, and your stupid future! He quit caring about the business, all because he felt that he had wronged you in some way!"

"So you were jealous of me because my father ignored you, and that's why you're punishing me now," Lucy asked bitterly.

"No, jealousy over you has very little to do with this," Luclin growled at her. "The problem was he didn't realize how much of a liability it could potentially be, leaving you to your own decisions! I pointed this out to him many times, but did he care? No! He said that he wanted to atone for your childhood!! And then, to put the icing on the cake, he left me nothing in his will! No seat on the Board of Trustees, no position as a regional manager, nothing! After all my hard work, after I acted like the son that he'd never had but always wished for, he forgot about me!"

"Fortunately, I'd never been one to give up on something and just walk away," he continued with a malicious cackle. "I knew how greedy Fritz, the man I'd hired to write up your father's will, could be, so I had him make a second copy with a few revisions. I fixed that little error of giving you a free reign over your own life, and gave myself a nice little position as President of the company."

"And Supetto," Lucy choked out as Luclin tightened his grip a little. "What did you threaten her with to keep her from going to the authorities?"

"Oh, did that letter of yours mention that she was one of the only three to know the contents of the original will? Or did she tell you that herself? I knew that I shouldn't have kept her alive," Luclin seethed. "But, to tell you the truth, I didn't threaten her with much. Instead, I offered her a nice little retirement package in turn for keeping her big mouth shut, but no, all she wanted was to see you again, so she refused to leave the estate!"

"Then she….she was just…"

"I don't care what she was. She's dead now, as soon as I get my hands on her. Kammi," Luclin called, clapping his hands. The maid showed up in nearly an instant, rushing into the parlor through a battered door. "Take Lucy back to her room. I want you to personally keep an eye on her."

Kammi performed a cheerful curtsy, ecstatic at being given a personal mission by her idol, and grabbed Lucy by the arm. The stellar mage gasped in pain as the violent redhead dug sharp nails into the skin of her arm. In nearly an instant, she'd been lifted to her feet and was being dragged out the door, into the snow.

"This time, make sure that she doesn't leave her room," Luclin called after them.

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Lucy spent the next two days locked up in her bedroom. Not a single person was allowed in to see her, unless you counted Kammi. Lucy didn't think she could really count her as a _person_, however; it was more like rabid-banshee-fangirl-tormentor-thing.

The said red-headed thing brought in her food three times a day, and kept her up to date and miserable by describing how the preparations for the ball were going without her directing them. Luclin, apparently, had taken charge himself, and had changed a few details around. For example, instead of being satisfied with simply setting up a buffet table, he'd hired waiters to serve champagne and appetizers. Also, he'd apparently decided that he didn't trust her taste in music, and had replaced her choice of a small soft rock band for live musical entertainment with some fancy full fledged orchestra from Harujion. Lucy didn't care too much about the details of the changes themselves, but couldn't help being angry over the fact that Luclin was making changes after she'd put so much time and effort into the planning.

Supetto hadn't been seen since she'd revealed the truth of Luclin's conspiracy to Lucy, and that was probably for the best. The crooked business man had been livid upon realizing that a little old lady had escaped from his clutches, and he was sparing no expense in searching for her. DeBondersmit, having failed to find any tracks that could conclusively point out the woman's whereabouts, was now leading a team of scent tracking dogs through the forest. Lucy could only hope that the maid who'd always acted so motherly towards her had been able to concoct a Luclin-proof escape plan.

'She only stayed here so that she could see me again,' Lucy thought miserably to herself as she stared out her bedroom window. "She was given the chance to drop off into a relaxing and comfortable retirement, but chose to continue working herself to the bone everyday."

Being locked up and now without someone to even fetch books for her, the only options Lucy had for entertaining herself were writing down the many horrible, horrible things that she wished she could do to Luclin and planning out the accessories for the dress that she would be wearing to the ball. She'd toyed with the idea of summoning Loki or maybe even cuddly little Plue for the tiniest bit of comfort, but she didn't dare risk it; Kammi stood outside of her room almost twenty-four/seven, and while Plue might be harmless enough that she'd possibly be allowed to keep him, there was no way that Loki would be overlooked. Should she summon him, he'd likely share the fate of both Taurus and Cancer: locked up who knows where by Luclin.

The dress that she'd be wearing to the ball was absolutely gorgeous, and expensive to boot; when she'd ordered it, she'd actually needed to go to Luclin to get approval to spend the amount that it cost, since it was over the limit 'set for her by her father' in the fake version of the will. Long, silky, and sleek, the dress was an icy shade of blue, perfect for the season, and had intricate silver embroidery on one side; the embroidery started out with a few thin lines just below the sleeve, but spread out across much of the skirt by the time it reached the hem. Maybe Lucy was being fanciful, but she imagined that the design depicted a beautiful, abstract dragon; the tailor, however, had disagreed, saying that she thought it only a design, nothing more.

Once again reminded of the original will, Lucy couldn't resist quickly snaking an eye over to a decorative vase that rested in a little alcove built into the wall. She'd hidden the legal document inside of it, afraid of leaving it out in the open. Luclin didn't appear to care about the original will, which confused her… wasn't he worried about her bringing it to the proper authorities and exposing him?

'That leaves two different possibilities,' the young woman thought to herself. 'Either he doesn't think that I'll ever find a way to escape from him, or more likely, he doesn't even realize that the original will is still in existence. I mean, wouldn't he have tried to get rid of the thing once he put his version in place? And how did Supetto get a hold of the original?'

Once more Lucy sighed, wishing that Supetto was still here. Then she might have gotten some real answers, and wouldn't be sitting here simply speculating.

So much for her promise to Natsu… 'He's probably happily waiting for me in Fairy Tail right now, completely oblivious to what's going on here,' the blonde muttered to herself grimly. 'I wonder when he'll realize that I'm not coming, and how he'll take it. Luclin knows that it's too dangerous for him to allow me to have contact with Fairy Tail in general, so he's probably concocted some method of keeping them away from me…'

A knock on the door roused her from her melancholy contemplations.

"Miss Lucy," Kammi chirped, bouncing into the room with the energy of a hyper school girl. "The ball starts in a few hours, so Master Luclin told me that I'm to start getting you ready. Where's your dress?"

"It's hanging on the inside of my armoire's right hand door," Lucy answered dispiritedly. Suddenly, a small thought popped into her mind.

"Is Grey here yet," she asked the maid, who was smoothing the dress out on the bed while admiring it with greedy eyes.

"That ice mage? Yeah, Gwendolyn escorted him in about half an hour ago, and is overseeing his work right now."

The gears in her head beginning to spin, Lucy tried her best to appear inconspicuous as she sat down at her desk and began to write on a piece of paper.

"What's that you're doing there," Kammi asked, slinking over towards her.

"What, this paper? Oh, I'm just working on a list of things Luclin and I can do after the wedding," Lucy replied with a small grin, picking up the engagement ring the business man had forced on her and slipping it around her finger. "You know, places we can go on our honeymoon, the type of clothes we should pack, that kind of thing."

"But…But I thought you hated Master Luclin," Kammi cried out, backing away from the desk as if the paper on it were toxic.

"Yes, I did, but I've realized that fighting against someone like him is useless, so I'm sucking in my pride and surrendering. Plus," Lucy continued with a small laugh, "Luclin really isn't that bad looking, so I just may be able to deal with being married to him."

Tears in her eyes, Kammi made some excuse about having forgotten some small detail of the ball's preparations, and hurried out of the room.

Trying to control her laughter, Lucy went back to writing her letter. With just a little bit of luck, she might manage to escape from this place after all.

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I know it's been a while since I updated, but I'm still getting used to college. The work didn't seem too bad at first, but now the professors are earnestly beginning to throw assignments at us, and I need to find time to finish them between my job on campus and the clubs I'm joining. Also, I'm so not used to writing with other people in the room; back home I used to lounge on my bed writing in quiet solitude, but now I have a roommate that's just a little scary (in a preppy/slightly slutty way). Sadly, she was not even moderately excited over my bringing my Nintendo Wii with me to college…

The release of the next chapter will be determined by both my work schedule and the amount of assignments I have to complete, so the best that I can promise from now on is monthly updates.


End file.
